Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

Sociology

Chapter

Social Change and Development in India: Social Movements

Question:
We often assume that the rights we enjoy just happened to exist. It is important to recall the struggles of the past, which made these rights possible. We have seen social reform movements of the 19th century, which struggled against caste and gender discrimination. We have also seen a nationalist movement in India that brought us independence from colonial rule in 1947. Such nationalist movements were in existence in Asia, Africa, and the Americas that put an end to colonial rule. The socialist movements the world over, the civil rights movement in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s that fought for equal rights for Blacks, and the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa have all changed the world in fundamental ways. Social movements not only change societies; they also inspire other social movements.
“Social movement is an aggregation of rational individual actors pursuing their self-interest. A person will join a social movement only if s/he will gain something from it. S/he will participate only if the risks are less than the gains.” Identify the theorist of this theory.
Options:
John D. McCarthy.
Mayer N. Zald.
Mancur Olson.
None of the above.
Correct Answer:
Mancur Olson.
Explanation:
Mancur Olson’s book The Logic of Collective Action argues that a social movement is an aggregation of rational individual actors pursuing their self-interest. A person will join a social movement only if s/he will gain something from it. S/he will participate only if the risks are less than the gains. Olson’s theory is based on the notion of the rational, utility-maximising individual.