Social Movements

2.1 Core concepts

A social movement is defined as sustained collective action over time that is usually directed against the state, has some degree of leadership and structure, and is held together by shared objectives and ideology (NCERT §8.1, p. 111). "Spontaneous, disorganised protest cannot be called a social movement" — a riot, a crowd reaction, or a momentary outburst lacks the duration, organisation, and shared programme that define a social movement. Counter movements arise in defence of the status quo against a reformist or transformatory movement — the Dharma Sabha against the anti-sati campaign, the opposition to widow remarriage, and the resistance to extensions of reservation are NCERT's examples (NCERT §8.1, p. 111). Movements rely on a "repertoire" of actions: mobilising meetings, lobbying with government and media, and distinct modes of protest — candle processions, black-cloth campaigns, street theatre, songs. Gandhi added to this repertoire ahimsa, satyagraha, khadi, the charkha, the Dandi salt march, and picketing (NCERT §8.1, p. 112; Box 8.2).

There is a careful distinction between social change and social movements. Social change is continuous and broad — sanskritisation, westernisation, the spread of literacy, the demographic transition are all examples of social change. Social movements, by contrast, are directed at specific goals through sustained, organised effort — the 19th-century reform movements against sati and child marriage are textbook examples. Sociology has tracked movements since its origin: the French Revolution and the food riots of industrial Britain were the founding objects of sociological analysis. Emile Durkheim saw movements as threats to social integration and as forces tending towards disorder; scholars influenced by Karl Marx — notably the historian E.P. Thompson — argued instead that the "crowd" had a moral economy of right and wrong, and that what looked like irrational riot was often disciplined moral protest (NCERT §8.2, p. 113).

A three-fold typology of social movements: (i) redemptive (transformatory) — movements that aim to change the personal consciousness and actions of their members — Narayana Guru's reform among the Ezhavas in Kerala is the textbook example; (ii) reformist — movements that seek gradual, incremental change in existing institutions — the 1960s linguistic reorganisation of states and the Right to Information campaign are cited; (iii) revolutionary — movements that seek radical transformation, often by capturing state power — the Bolshevik Revolution and the Naxalite movement are the examples (NCERT §8.3, p. 114). The same event may be classified differently by different actors — 1857 was a "mutiny" or "rebellion" for the British but the "first war of Independence" for Indian nationalists (NCERT §8.3, p. 114).

The old vs new social movements distinction (Box 8.4) is another perennial CUET hook. Old social movements worked within political parties (the Indian National Congress led the national movement; the CPC led the Chinese Revolution) and sought reorganisation of power — they were class-based and party-led. New social movements focus on quality-of-life issues (clean environment, gender justice, identity recognition), cut across class lines, and are often international in scope — the World Social Forum, the anti-WTO Seattle protests, and the global environmental movement are cited (NCERT §8.3, pp. 114–115). Rajni Kothari attributes the surge of Indian movements in the 1970s to dissatisfaction with parliamentary democracy and the capture of state institutions by elites (NCERT §8.3, p. 115).

Ecological movements (§8.4) focus on the Chipko Movement in the Himalayan foothills, where villagers — many of them women — hugged oak and rhododendron trees to stop contractor felling. The movement linked subsistence (firewood, fodder), ecological sustainability (the link between deforestation and the floods/landslides of the 1970 Alaknanda flood), and political representation against a distant plains-based government. Gaura Devi of the Reni village Mahila Mandal led one of the famous actions (NCERT §8.4, pp. 116–117; Box 8.3). Namami Gange and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan as 2014-onward government ecological initiatives (NCERT §8.4, p. 117).

Peasant movements (§8.5) cover the Bengal Indigo revolt (1859–62), the Deccan riots (1857), and Gandhian-era struggles: Champaran Satyagraha (1917–18) against indigo planters in Bihar; Bardoli Satyagraha (1928, Surat) as a no-tax campaign. Organisationally, the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha was formed in 1929 and the All India Kisan Sabha in 1936. The two classical cases at Independence are Tebhaga (1946–47) — Bengal sharecroppers' demand for a two-thirds share of produce, backed by the Kisan Sabha and the CPI — and Telangana (1946–51) — a peasant struggle against feudal conditions in princely Hyderabad, led by the CPI (NCERT §8.5, p. 118). New farmers' movements of the 1970s, especially in Punjab and Tamil Nadu, were regionally organised, non-party, market-involved farmer bodies that were anti-state and anti-urban; they demanded remunerative prices, lower input costs, and loan waivers, and used road/rail blockades and bans on politicians entering villages (NCERT §8.5, pp. 118–119).

Workers' movements (§8.5): Factory production began in India in the 1860s in port towns — Calcutta, Bombay, later Madras; tea plantations in Assam began in 1839. The first trade union was founded in April 1918 in Madras by B.P. Wadia (a member of the Theosophical Society). The same year, Gandhi founded the Textile Labour Association (TLA) in Ahmedabad. The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was formed in Bombay in 1920. The Congress-affiliated Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) was formed in May 1947. The 1974 railway workers' strike is cited as a major event (NCERT §8.5, pp. 119–121).

Caste-based movements (§8.6). The word "Dalit" in its modern sense was first used in Marathi by the neo-Buddhist followers of B.R. Ambedkar in the early 1970s; the term carries a denial of pollution, karma and justified caste hierarchy. Major movements include the Satnami (Chhattisgarh Chamars), Adi Dharma (Punjab), Mahar (Maharashtra), the Jatav mobilisation in Agra, and the Anti-Brahman movement in south India. Sociologists classify Dalit movements as showing all three types simultaneously — reformative, redemptive and revolutionary (Box 8.7, p. 122). Backward Classes movements have a long history — Madras 1872, Mysore 1918, Bombay 1925; by 1954, 88 such organisations existed. In 2019 the Government of India introduced 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) among upper castes (NCERT §8.6, pp. 122–123; Box 8.8).

Tribal movements (§8.7). The "tribal belt" includes the Santhals, Hos, Oraons, and Mundas of Chota Nagpur and the Santhal Parganas — the present-day Jharkhand region. Birsa Munda led an uprising against the British. Jharkhand was carved out of south Bihar in 2000. Adivasis resented the dikus — migrant traders and moneylenders who settled in adivasi areas and grabbed wealth. Issues included land acquisition for irrigation and firing ranges, survey and settlement, loan collection, and the nationalisation of forest produce. North-East tribal movements have moved from secessionism to autonomy within the Constitution (Nongbri 2003) (NCERT §8.7, pp. 123–124).

Women's movement (§8.8). Early 20th-century bodies included the Women's India Association (WIA) 1917, the National Council for Women in India (NCWI) 1925, and the All India Women's Conference (AIWC) 1926. Women participated in the Tebhaga, Telangana and Warli revolts. A "second phase" of the women's movement began in the mid-1970s focusing on violence against women, dowry, sexual harassment, land rights, and employment. Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana is a Government of India effort towards a gender-just society (NCERT §8.8, pp. 125–126).

2.2 Definitions to memorise

2.3 Diagrams / processes to remember

• Photograph of Chipko activists at Saklana on World Environment Day, 1986 — note the women hugging trees as central image of the movement (p. 116).
• Photographs of Bombay textile workers' strike 1981–82 and women workers at a Union Demonstration, Arwal, Bihar 1987 — illustrate workers' movement (p. 120).
• Picture of women in Civil Disobedience Movement — example of women's participation in nationalist struggle (p. 125).
• Box 8.1 (Right to Vote / Chartism), Box 8.2 (repertoire of satyagraha), Box 8.3 (Chipko / 1970 Alaknanda flood), Box 8.5 (Naxalbari / Kanu Sanyal), Box 8.6 (Srikakulam Girijans, 1968), Box 8.7 (classifying Dalit movements), Box 8.8 (G.B. Pant on Backward Classes) — high-frequency exam material.
• The typology triangle (p. 114): Redemptive (Narayana Guru) – Reformist (RTI, linguistic reorganisation) – Revolutionary (Bolshevik, Naxalite).
• The old/new movement timeline (pp. 114–115): old movements ← class/party axis; new movements → quality of life / identity axis.
• The Indian labour timeline (pp. 119–120): 1860s factories in port towns → 1918 first trade union (Madras, B.P. Wadia) and TLA (Gandhi) → 1920 AITUC → 1947 INTUC.
• The women's organisations chronology (p. 125): WIA 1917 → NCWI 1925 → AIWC 1926.

2.4 Common confusions / NTA trap points

• Tebhaga (1946–47, Bengal, sharecroppers, two-thirds share) vs Telangana (1946–51, Hyderabad, anti-feudal, CPI-led) — students often swap dates and locations.
• AITUC (1920, Bombay, broad-based) vs INTUC (May 1947, Congress) vs first trade union (April 1918, Madras, B.P. Wadia) vs TLA (1918, Gandhi, Ahmedabad textile) — easy to confuse founders.
• "Redemptive" (changes personal consciousness) is often confused with "reformist" (gradual societal change). Narayana Guru = redemptive; RTI/linguistic reorganisation = reformist.
• AIWC (1926), WIA (1917), NCWI (1925) — dates frequently shuffled in distractors.
• Chipko is an ecological movement but it also has economic (subsistence vs profit) and political (hill vs plains) dimensions; do not pick "purely environmental" as the answer.
• The word "Dalit" in its modern sense was revived in the early 1970s by neo-Buddhist Ambedkarites — not by Ambedkar himself in the 1940s.
• Jharkhand was created in 2000, not 1995 or 2001.
• Birsa Munda led an uprising against the British, not against post-Independence governments — a common date trap.
• E.P. Thompson is associated with the "moral economy" of the crowd; do not attribute this to Durkheim (who saw movements as disorder-causing).
• The Dharma Sabha is the counter-movement against sati abolition — not a reform body.

2.5 Thinkers / theories table