Some decades ago, landless labourers in a district joined a struggle that aimed to drive out oppressive landlords and officials and to take over the local government by force. Over the next two decades its leaders began to contest elections and to press the legislature for land ceiling laws and minimum wages. Large rallies and road blockades gave way to a quieter routine: it opened district offices, hired paid staff, kept a membership register and held yearly general meetings.
Going by the typology of social movements, the change in the movement's objectives over the two decades is best described as a shift from:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Revolutionary to reformist
Option (1) Reformist to redemptive — Incorrect. The movement did not start as reformist. It began by aiming to take over local government by force, and it never turned to changing members' personal habits, which is the aim of a redemptive movement.
Option (2) Revolutionary to redemptive — Incorrect. The starting point fits, since the struggle first aimed to seize power by force. The later phase seeks land ceiling laws and minimum wages through elections and the legislature, which is a reformist path.
Option (3) Redemptive to reformist — Incorrect. The early phase was not about members changing their own lives. Driving out landlords and officials and capturing local government by force is a revolutionary aim.
Option (4) Revolutionary to reformist — Correct. A movement's orientation may shift over time. This struggle began with revolutionary aims, capturing local power by force like the Naxalite movement. Later it sought land laws and minimum wages through elections, the gradual, incremental path of a reformist movement.
NCERT (2026-27): “Reformist, Redemptive, Revolutionary … |