The big idea: A social movement is a big group of ordinary people who act together to push for social or political change — mainly through protest and collective action.
Sometimes change is driven not by an organisation but by thousands of people acting together. A social movement is looser than an NGO — it has no single office or boss, just many people sharing a cause.
- Fridays for Future — young people striking for climate action.
- Black Lives Matter — protests against racism and police violence.
- #MeToo — a movement against sexual harassment and abuse.
People power, not legal power: A social movement is a non-state actor. It cannot pass a law or sign a treaty. Its power comes from numbers and publicity — enough people making enough noise that leaders cannot ignore them.
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How can a movement with no formal power change a global agenda? By turning numbers into attention. Fridays for Future is a clear example.
Case study — Fridays for Future: In 2018 the teenager Greta Thunberg began skipping school on Fridays to protest for climate action. Others copied her, and within a year millions of students in many countries were joining school strikes.
The movement made no law. But it pushed climate high up the news and the political agenda, and put pressure on governments to act. Its power was attention and moral weight, not authority.
The key point: A movement's strength is agenda-setting — it changes what everyone is talking about. That can push governments to act, even though the movement itself cannot make policy.
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So how much power do social movements really have? Weigh their strengths against their limits.
Link it up: A social movement has influence but not authority. Compare it with an NGO (more organised) and a state (which has sovereignty). In an answer, show how it shapes an issue through people power, then note it cannot make the change law itself.
How social movements come up in Paper 1: A Paper 1 source might show a social movement pushing for change. Remember the one big idea: movements have no formal power, so their strength comes from numbers, unity and public support.
With reference to a source and one example you have studied, explain how a social movement can influence politics without making law.
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Easy marks to lose: 1. Confusing a movement with an NGO. A movement is looser, with no single office or boss.
2. Saying it 'makes law'. It sets the agenda; it cannot force change.
3. No real example. Use Fridays for Future or Black Lives Matter.
4. Ignoring the limits. Weigh people power against fading or being repressed.