Social Movements Essay

Subject of the paper: Social Movements Essay

Requirement: Over the past few weeks we have examined different social movements as case studies to answer some central questions:Why do social movements arise? What consequences—political, economic, cultural, or social—do social movements have, and how does a given social movement make an impact? How do social movements recruit and/or retain participants?

• In this essay, you will apply key concepts or theories we learned from our class to a different social movement of your choice to answer one of the four central questions above. You may select a social movement we have or will discuss in class – the African American civil rights movement, the women’s movement, lesbian feminist social movement communities, ACT UP, Black Lives Matter, the environmental justice movement, the alter-globalization movement, Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring – or one that we will not discuss in class. BUT your selected social movement must not be the same one we analyzed to answer a given question. For example, if you want to answer “why do social movements arise?” you cannot analyze the African American civil rights movement.
• You should begin your paper by introducing your selected phenomenon as a social movement. You should use Snow and colleagues’ conceptualization of social movements to guide this part of your paper by explaining how your selected phenomenon fits their criteria. Consider what changes the social movement hopes to enact or halt. Then, you should identify what question you will answer, and what theory or key concepts you will use to answer your question. Review the key conceptual or theoretical elements in your own words, and cite be sure to properly give credit for ideas. You should then write a clear and concise thesis statement that outlines your argument by blending the theoretical elements with your selected case.
• After you have defined your terms and outlined your argument, you must persuasively detail your argument. You must draw connections between the general terms or theoretical explanation and your empirical story.
• The body of your paper should roughly follow the roadmap you outlined in your thesis statement. Make sure that each paragraph fully unpacks one aspect of your thesis statement (see the example body paragraphs outline in Appendix 1 below).
• You must include at least two pieces of primary evidence (archival material; recorded interviews; survey results) and one prior research study to support your paper’s argument.
• Finally, you should conclude your paper by restating the argument and considering some of your analysis’s implications. That is, if the story you tell with your data and sociological ideas is true, what might we expect to see in other contexts? Should we expect similar findings for other social movements? If so, why? If not, why not?

Other information: This paper should be 1200-1500 words in length.

Please include a Word Count at the end of the paper.

Your formatted paper will include 12-point, Times New Roman font with 1” margins and 1.5 or doubled line spacing.

Your in-text and Reference sheet citations will use the correct and consistent formatting of your choice, and footnoted citations where necessary.

You should consider Purdue’s Online Writing Lab, the (almost) definitive resource for citing material (see References below). You should also consult Jones, Quinn, and Brown (2011) for additional resources.

Reminder:

• APA Format
• No plagiarism is accepted (people are checked through two different systems for plagiarism)
• Only academic resources should be used, no older than 5 years old
• Adhere to the requested number of words/pages
• No Grammar errors (refunds will be asked for incoherent/ full of grammar errors papers)