Tag: social movements in our time

Martin Luther King Jr. was a renowned civil rights activist who led the civil rights movement in US for Blacks and Africans who did not have the rights that Americans already enjoyed. The Movement began expressly with the Montgomery Bus Incident when one local leader Rosa Parks who is African refused to give up her seat for white American. Martin Luther King led all the major movements including civil disobedience, non- violent protests, sit ins etc. He continued to do so  until he was assassinated in 1968.

Pressure groups are organisations that attempt to influence government policies. But unlike political parties, pressure groups do not aim to directly control or share political power. These organisations are formed when people with common occupation, interest, aspirations or opinions come together in order to achieve a common objective.

Black Power Movement is the movement that emphasized of the elimination of the racial discrimination against African-Americans and formation of Political and social Institutions of Blacks to have adequate representation without which non-discrimination would be futile. It emerged out of the Civil Rights Movement in the US.

Pressure groups are organisations that attempt to influence government policies. But unlike political parties, pressure groups do not aim to directly control or share political power. These organisations are formed when people with common occupation, interest, aspirations or opinions come together in order to achieve a common objective

The Narmada Bachao Andolan is a movement started with the specific issue of the people displaced by the creation of Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada river. Its objective was to stop the dam from being constructed. Gradually it became a wider movement that questioned all such big dams and the model of development that required such dams. Medha Patekar is an Indian Social Activist who works on various Social and economic issues raised by Women, Dalits, Backward Classes and other environmental Concerns. She played a key role in Narmada Bachao Andolan in 1985.

Pressure groups are organisations that attempt to influence government policies. But unlike political parties, pressure groups do not aim to directly control or share political power. These organisations are formed when people with common occupation, interest, aspirations or opinions come together in order to achieve a common objective

Mobilisation in the context of popular struggle and movement implies alliance of political parties or organisations to give voice to the demands of public and infusing recognition in their voice. The example of mobilisation can be seen during the popular struggle for restoration of democracy in Nepal where All major political parties formed Seven Party Alliance (SPA).

 King Birendra, who has accepted this transition from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy, was killed in a mysterious massacre of the royal family in 2001. King Gyanendra, the new king of Nepal, was not prepared to accept democratic rule. He took advantage of the weakness and unpopularity of the democratically elected government. In February 2005, the king dismissed the then Prime Minister and dissolved the popularly elected Parliament. The movement of April 2006 was aimed at regaining popular control over the government from the King.

In 1984, the Karnataka government set up a company called Karnataka Pulpwood Limited. About 30,000 hectares of land was given virtually free to this company for 40 years. Much of this land was used by local farmers as grazing land for their cattle. However the company began to plant eucalyptus trees on this land, which could be used for making paper pulp. In 1987, a movement called Kittiko-Hachchiko (meaning, pluck and plant) started a non-violent protest, where people plucked the eucalyptus plants and planted saplings of trees that were useful to the people.

Usually interest groups seek to promote the interests of a particular section or group of society. Trade unions, business associations and professional (lawyers, doctors, teachers, etc.) bodies are some examples of this type. They are sectional because they represent a section of society: workers, employees, businesspersons, industrialists, followers of a religion, caste group, etc. Their principal concern is the betterment and well-being of their members, not society in general.