What is 'new'
New social movement theory holds that whereas the central conflict of industrial society pitted labor against capital, conflict in post-industrial society concerns control over information, culture and everyday life. Touraine (1981) saw movements as actors contesting the direction of society itself, and Offe (1985) argued that they politicize everyday life, the body and the environment, crossing the boundaries of institutional politics defined by parties and parliaments. Their base is said to be the highly educated new middle class rather than workers.
Identity and values
Melucci (1980) regarded the collective construction of identity, participants defining together 'who we are', as the core of movements. Polletta and Jasper (2001) later traced how the concept spread throughout social movement research. The spread of postmaterialist values after material security, described by Inglehart (1977), is often cited as the background for these movements' growth.
Comparison with American theories and critiques
Whereas American resource mobilization and political opportunity structure theories ask how movements organize and succeed, new social movement theory asks why such movements emerged in this period. Buechler (1995) mapped the theory's varieties, and Pichardo (1997) criticized it for overstating novelty, noting that earlier movements also had identity elements. Later research combined the traditions and added cultural approaches such as frame alignment.
FAQ
- What is new social movement theory in simple terms?
- A theory explaining newer movements, such as environmental, women's and peace movements, that revolve around identity, values and ways of life rather than wages or class.
- How does it differ from resource mobilization theory?
- Resource mobilization looks at how movements organize and gather resources; new social movement theory asks why such movements arose in this era and what identity means to them.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26
References
- Melucci, A. (1980). The new social movements: A theoretical approach. Social Science Information, 19(2), 199–226. A foundational theoretical statement.
- Offe, C. (1985). New social movements: Challenging the boundaries of institutional politics. Social Research, 52(4), 817–868. Challenging institutional politics.
- Touraine, A. (1981). The voice and the eye: An analysis of social movements. Cambridge University Press. Touraine's post-industrial analysis.
- Inglehart, R. (1977). The silent revolution: Changing values and political styles among Western publics. Princeton University Press. Postmaterialist values.
- Buechler, S. M. (1995). New social movement theories. The Sociological Quarterly, 36(3), 441–464. Varieties of the theory.
- Pichardo, N. A. (1997). New social movements: A critical review. Annual Review of Sociology, 23, 411–430. A critical review.
- Polletta, F., & Jasper, J. M. (2001). Collective identity and social movements. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 283–305. Collective identity.