Social movements: a social psychological perspective

This article analyses the treatment of social psychological issues in the study of social movements. It traces historically the development of theory in the study of social movements, from accounts of ‘societal breakdown’ and ‘collective behavior,’ through resource mobilization theory, and the ‘new social movements’ approach. More recent ‘social constructionist’ approaches to social movements will be outlined, which explicitly foreground the topic of identity and its creation. Finally, there is a discussion of the concept of ‘interaction’ in social movement theories, which in different forms has been understood as the process whereby new identities are created in social movement activity.