Social Action Movements, Part 1:

Its concept and types and some examples

Module Details
1. Subject Name Adult Education

2. Paper Name Community Organization & Development in the context of

Literacy

3. Module number Module-5.16

4. Module Name Social Action Movements, Part 1: Its concept and types and
some examples
5. Principal Investigator Prof. Vandana Chakrabarti, Director, Lifelong Learning and
Extension, SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai

6. Paper Coordinator Dr. Rohini Sudhakar, Associate Professor, Dept. of Continuing

and Adult Education & Extension Work, Social Action
movements: Its concept and types and some examples
SNDT WU, Mumbai
7. Content writer Dr. Keshav Walke, Faculty, Matru Sewa Sangh Institute of
Social Work, Nagpur

8. Content Reviewer Dr. Vaijayanta Anand, Associate Professor, Nirmala Niketan

College of Social Work

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Objectives
3. Meaning and Definitions of Social Movements
4. Characteristic of social Action movements
5. Theories of social movements
6. Stages in Social Movements
7. Some important social action programs
8. Summary

Objectives

After going through the module the learner would able to

1. Explain the concept of social action movement

2. Differentiate between various forms of social action movement in India

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 1. Introduction:
Social movements are any broad social alliances of people who are connected through their
shared interests in blocking or affecting ( moving) social change. Social movements do not
have to be formally organized. Multiple alliances may work separately for common causes
and still be considered as a social movement.

Social movements are conscious, concerted and sustained efforts by ordinary people to
change some aspects of their society by using extra-institutional means. They are more
conscious and organized than fads and fashions. They last longer than a single protest or
riot. There is more to them than formal organizations, although such organizations usually
play a part. They are composed mainly of ordinary people as opposed to army officers,
politicians or economic elites. They need not be explicitly political, but many are.

Social movements are one of the principal social forms through which colectivities give voice
to their grievance, concerns about rights, welfare, well-being of themselves and others by
engaging in various types of collective action, such as protesting in the streets, riots. Sm
have long functioned as an important vehicle for articulating and pressing a collectivity’s
interests and claims.

Meaning and Definitions of Social Movements

Social movements can be viewed as collective enterprises to establish a new order of life.
They have their inception in the condition of unrest, and derive their motive power on one
hand from dissatisfaction with the current form of life, and on the other hand, from wishes
and hopes for a new scheme or system of living. —Herbert Blumer

Mass movements mobilize people who are alienated from the going system, who do not
believe in the legitimacy of the established order, and who therefore are ready to engage in
efforts to destroy it. The greatest number of people available to mass movement will be
found in those sections of society that have the fewest ties to the social order. —William
Kornhauser

Social movements are those organized efforts, on the part of excluded groups, to promote
or resist changes in the structure of society that involve recourse to non-institutional forms
of political participation. —Doug McAdam

Rather than seeing social movements as expressions of extremism, violence, and depri-
vation, they are better defined as collective challenges, based on common purposes and
special solidarities, in sustained interaction with elites, opponents, and authorities. —Sidney
Tarrow

A movement is not merely a perpetuated crowd, since a crowd does not possess
organizational and motivational mechanisms capable of sustaining membership through
periods of inaction and waiting. Furthermore, crowd mechanisms cannot be used to achieve
communication and coordination of activity over a wide area, such as a nation or continent.

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A social movement is a collectivity or a collective enterprise. The individual member
experiences a sense of membership in an alliance of people who share his dissatisfaction
with the present state of affairs and his vision of a better order. —Encyclopedia Britannica

Social movements may be defined as informal networks, based on shared beliefs and
solidarity, which mobilize about conflictual issues, trough the frequent use of various forms
of protest - della Porta & Diani 1996:14–15).

In a number of pieces, Mario Diani (1992a; 2003a; 2004a; Diani and Bison 2004) has
maintained that social movements are a distinct social process, consisting of the
mechanisms through which actors engaged in collective action:

 Are involved in conflictual relations with clearly identified opponents;

 Are linked by dense informal networks;
 Share a distinct collective identity.

Social movement is a collective, organized, sustained and noninstitutional challenge to

authorities, powerholders, or cultural beliefs and practices.

Characteristic of social Action movements

M.S. A. Rao, one of the prominent Indian sociologists, has made a mention of the nature of
social movements in the book “Social Movements in India”. According to him, social
movement includes five characteristics ( Collective action, Oriented towards social change,
ideology behind the movement, organizational frame work, the technique and result) .
There is considerable agreement among the sociologists towards the first two characteristic
and where as they differ a lot regarding other three criteria.

1. Collective Action
Social movement undoubtedly involves collective action. However, this collective action,
takes the form of a movement only when it is sustained for a long time. This collective
action need not be formally organised. It could be an informal attempt also. But it should be
able to create an interest and awakening in relatively large number of people.

2. Oriented towards Social Change

A Social movement is generally oriented towards bringing about social change. This change
could either be partial or total. Though the movement is aimed at bringing about a change
in the values, norms, ideologies of the existing system, efforts are also made by some other
forces to resist the changes and to maintain the status quo.

3. Ideology behind the Movement

An important component of social movement that distinguishes it from the general category
of collective mobilisation is the presence of an ideology. Example. A student strike involves
collective mobilisation and is oriented towards change. But in the absence of an ideology a
student strike becomes an isolated event and not a movement. On the contrary, if the strike
is committed to an ideology, it may last for longer period and assume the form of a
movement.

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4. Organisational Frame Work
As Paul Wilkinson has pointed out that a social movement requires a minimum of
organizational framework to achieve success or at least to maintain the tempo of the
movement. To make the distinction clear between the leaders and followers, to make clear
the purposes of the movement, to persuade people to take part in it or to support it, to
adopt different techniques to achieve the goals — a social movement must have some
amount of organisational framework.

3. The Techniques and Results

A social movement may adopt its own technique or method to achieve its goal. There is no
certainty regarding it. It may follow peaceful or conflicting, violent or non-violent,
compulsive or persuasive, democratic or undemocratic means or methods to reach its goal.

The same thing is true of the results. It may become successful or it may fail; it may
become partial success or at least it may create a general ‘awakening’ in the public
regarding an issue. The result of a movement has a close bearing on-the ideology and the
organisational framework.

Features of Social Movements

Some of the features of social movements are as follows:

i. The sense of belonging and group consciousness is very important for a social
movement. Such consciousness can be brought about through active participation of
the group members.
ii. Social movements lead to the creation of an entirely new social, economic, and
political order.
iii. Most of the social movements tend to develop a new set of ideas, which become
obligatory for the members of the group to adopt and follow.
iv. It is obvious that the social movements involve collective action rather than indi-
vidual action.
v. Social movements may be organized or unorganized.
vi. Social movements may be peaceful in nature or they may also turn violent.
vii. The aim of a social movement is to bring about or resist social change in the society.
viii. The life of the social movement is not certain. This is because it may continue for a
long period or it may die out soon.

Cause of Social Movements

According to Vidya Bhushan Sachdeva (p. 285), social movements do not just happen. It is
social unrest which gives rise to a social movement.

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The social unrest may be caused by the following factors

i. Cultural Drifts
The society undergoes constant changes. The values and behavior are changing all the time
in civilized societies. In the course of cultural drift, most people develop new ideas. To get
these ideas operative in the society they organize a movement.

The development of a democratic society, the emancipation of women, the spread of mass
education, the removal of untouchability, the equality of opportunity for both the sexes, and
the growth of secularism are some examples of cultural drift.

ii. Social Disorganization

A changing society is, to some extent, disorganized because changes in different parts of
the society do not take place simultaneously. One part changes more rapidly than the other,
thereby producing numerous lags. Industrialization has brought about urbanization which in
turn has caused numerous social problems.

Social disorganization brings confusion and uncertainty, because the old traditions no longer
form a dependable guide to behavior, and individuals become rootless. They feel isolated
from society. A feeling develops that the community leaders are indifferent to their needs.
Individuals feel insecure, confused, and frustrated. Confusion and frustration lead to social
movements.

iii. Social Injustice

When a group of people feel that injustice was done to them, they become frustrated and
alienated. Such feeling of injustice provides fertile soil for social movements. The feeling of
social injustice is not limited to the miserable poor. Any group, at any status level, may
come to feel itself the victim of social injustice.

The wealthy class may feel a sense of injustice when faced with urban property ceiling law—
or high taxes—intended to benefit the poor. Social injustice is a subjective value judgment.
A social system is unjust when it is so perceived by its members. Thus, social movements
occur whenever such kind of social situation arises. In a stable and well-integrated society,
the chances for social movements are very rare.

It is understood that people living in such a society are contented and satisfied. In a
disorganized and continuously changing society, social movements occur more frequently,
as most people are dissatisfied with the existing conditions. Lack of social justice also makes
people dissatisfied and paves the way for social movements. Modern society is more
afflicted with social movements than the earlier societies.

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Theory of social movement
Deprivation William Kornhauser advocated the Mass Society Theory in 1959.
Theory People experiencing relative deprivation begin social movement. The
social movement is a means of seeking change that bring participants
greater benefits. Social movements especially arise when rising
expectation are frustrated.
Mass Society This theory was well explained by Karl Marx.
Theory People who lack established social ties are mobilized into social
movements. Periods of social breakdown are likely to spawn social
movements. The social movement gives members sense of belonging and
social participations.
Structural Peoples come together because of their shared concern about the inability
Strain Theory of the society to operate as they believe it should. The growth of a social
movement reflects many factors, including a belief in its legitimacy and
some precipitating event that provokes actions.
Resource People may join for all the reason noted above and also because of social
Mobilization ties with the existing members. The success or failure of a social
Theory: movement depends largely on the resources available to it. And also the
extent of opposition within the larger society is important.
New Social People who become part of social movements are motivated by quality of
Movement life issue, not necessarily economic concern. Mobilization is national or
theory international in scope. New social movements arise in response to the
expansion of the mass media and new information technology.

Stages in Social Movements

Though one social movement differs from another, almost all social movements go through
similar stages. They are as follows (Macionis, p. 623):

Stage 1: Emergence
The perception that all is not well triggers off social movements. Widespread dissatisfaction
becomes the basis of other movements. Sometimes, a small vanguard (forerunner/ lead)
group increases public awareness on some issues and makes it a prominent public issue.

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Stage 2: Coalescence (Blending, Union)
Once a social issue has emerged as a movement, it must define itself and develop a
strategy for “going public”. The leaders must determine policies and tactics, and there
should be a drive to recruit new members. At this stage, collective actions such as
demonstrations or rallies must be organized to attract public and media attention. Alliances
with other organizations should be formed in order to gain necessary resources.

Stage 3: Bureaucratization
A social movement must take on bureaucratic traits in order to become a political force. As
it becomes established, the movement starts depending on the talents and charisma of its
leaders and relies more on a capable staff.

If movements do not become established in this manner, they may face the risk of
dissolution. Sometimes, bureaucratization can also hinder a social movement, as leaders
may become too involved in building up the organization and not concentrate on
encouraging the members towards change.

Stage 4: Decline
Over a period of time, social movements lose their importance and influence. Sometimes, if
the goals of the movement are fulfilled, decline simply indicates success. Organizational
factors such as poor leadership, loss of interest among members, or repressive authority
may also lead to the demise of a movement.

Sometimes, a social movement declines because the established power structure diverts
leaders from their goals through different means such as offers of money, prestige, and
other rewards. Cooptation or “selling out” is common, and organizational leaders use their
position to enrich themselves. Another cause for the decline of a social movement is
repression.

Participants may be threatened by officials, who discourage new recruits, and even by
imprisoned leaders in order to crush a social movement. Sometimes, a social movement can
collapse because it may opt for “going mainstream”. Such movements may become an
accepted part of system, and no longer challenge the authorities or the status quo.

Types of Social Movements

The classification of social movements is not easy as a movement may have a mixed nature
or may change completely at different stages during its career. However, the social
movements are classified into millenarian, migratory, Utopian, expressive, reformist,
rebellion, revolutionary, and resistance.

A detailed discussion on all these social movements is given as follows:

Millenarian Movement
Millenarian movements are based on a belief of a religious, social, or political group that a
major transformation of society will occur after which all the elements or components of the
society will be changed in a positive or sometimes negative direction.

Millenarian groups typically claim that the current society and its rulers are corrupt, unjust,
or otherwise wrong. They, therefore, believe that they will be destroyed soon by a powerful

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force. The harmful nature of the status quo is always considered intractable without the
anticipated dramatic change. For instance, in medieval millenarianism the world was seen
as controlled by demons, and this idea prevailed even up to the nineteenth century.

Migratory Movement
These movements take place when a large number of people leave one country and settle in
some other place or country. The major reasons for mass migration may be discontent or
dissatisfaction with the existing situations or circumstances or looking for new opportunities
for a bright future.

Mere migration of people from one place to another cannot be called migratory movement.
The Zionist Movement (the back-to-Israel movement is known as Zionism) and the
movement of people from East Germany to West Germany are some examples of migratory
social movements.

Utopian Movement
A Utopian Movement is a movement which is expected to create an ideal social system, or a
perfect society, which can only be imagined but cannot exist in reality. Utopian movements
conceive man as good, co-operative, and altruistic. The most successful Utopian Movement
in the recent history is the Israeli kibbutz. Sarvodaya Movement is another example of a
Utopian Movement.

Expressive Movement
Expressive movements arise when people are discontented and cannot easily change the
unpleasant situations (i.e., they feel powerless and cannot flee from the social system) with
the result that the individual comes to terms with that unpleasant reality and changes his
own reactions in order to make his life bearable. One of the best examples of expressive
movement is Hippie Movement.

Reformist Movement
A reform movement can be described as a mass movement that seeks to change only one
specific aspect of a society .The reform movement is an attempt to modify some parts of
the society without completely changing the whole social system.

Most of the reform movements are possible in democratic countries as people have an
opportunity to express their opinions and criticize the existing social institutions and can
bring about some changes in them. The movement to abolish untouchability and dowry
system, and the movement to preserve wildlife are all examples of the reform movements.

Revolutionary Movement
The Revolutionary Movement aims at overthrowing the existing social system and replacing
it with a new one. Revolutionary movements are quite opposite to the reform movements.
Revolutionists generally believe that reform is not possible under the existing social system.

Usually, revolutionary movements arise when people have no other alternative to reform
the social system other than changing it as a whole. Revolution serves as an alternative to
the individuals to come out of their existing misery. The communist revolution in Russia and
China are the examples of revolutionary movements.

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Resistance Movement
A resistance movement can be described as a movement that arises not only for the
purpose of instituting change, but also to block change or to eliminate a previously
instituted change. Revolutionary movements arise as people are dissatisfied and feel that
the pace of social change is very slow, whereas resistance movements occur when people
consider that the change is rapid. The movement against Hindi of Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam is a typical example of resistance movement.

Revivalist Movement
A revivalist movement seeks to take the system back to its original pristine purity. Most of
the movements try to involve people in the political process and bring about political
awareness among the people. Some movements aim at bringing about a change in the lives
of certain sections of society, such as the downtrodden as well as women.

New Social Movements

The term new social movements (NSMs) is a theory of social movements that attempts to
explain the plethora of new movements that have come up in various western societies
roughly since the mid-1960s (i.e. in a post-industrial economy), which are claimed to depart
significantly from the conventional social movement paradigm .
There are two central claims of the NSM theory. Firstly, the rise of the post-industrial
economy is responsible for a new wave of social movement. Secondly, these movements
are significantly different from previous social movements of the industrial economy. The
primary difference is in their goals, as the new movements focus not on issues of
materialistic qualities such as economic well-being, but on issues related to human
rights (such as gay rights or pacifism).

Characteristics
The most noticeable feature of new social movements is that they are primarily social and
cultural and only secondarily, if at all, political.
Departing from the worker's movement, which was central to the political aim of gaining
access to citizenship and representation for the working class, new social movements
concentrate on bringing about social mobilization through cultural innovations, the
development of new lifestyles, and the transformation of identities.
It is clearly elaborated by Habermas that new social movements are the "new politics" which
is about quality of life, individual self-realization, and human rights; whereas the "old
politics" focused on economic, political, and military security.
New social movements also emphasize the role of post-material values in contemporary and
post-industrial society, as opposed to conflicts over material resources. According to
Melucci, one of the leading new social movement theorists, these movements arise not from
relations of production and distribution of resources, but within the sphere of reproduction
and the life world.
Consequently, the concern has shifted from the production of economic resources as a
means of survival or for reproduction to cultural production of social relations, symbols, and
identities. In other words, the contemporary social movements reject the materialistic
orientation of consumerism in capitalist societies by questioning the modern idea that links
the pursuit of happiness and success closely to growth, progress, and increased productivity

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 and by instead promoting alternative values and understandings in relation to the social
world.
As an example, the environmental movement that has appeared since the late 1960s
throughout the world, with its strong points in the United States and Northern Europe, has
significantly brought about a "dramatic reversal" in the ways we consider the relationship
between economy, society and nature.
Further, new social movements are located in civil society or the cultural sphere as a major
arena for collective action rather than instrumental action in the state, which Claus Offe
characterizes as "bypass[ing] the state. " Moreover, since new social movements are not
normally concerned with directly challenging the state, they are regarded as anti-
authoritarian and as resisting incorporation at the institutional level. They tend to focus on a
single issue, or a limited range of issues connected to a single broad theme, such as peace
or the environment. New social movements concentrate on the grassroots level with the aim
to represent the interests of marginal or excluded groups.. Therefore, new collective actions
are locally based, centered on small social groups and loosely held together by personal or
informational networks such as radios, newspapers, and posters. This "local- and issue-
centered" characteristic implies that new movements do not necessarily require a
strong ideology or agreement to meet their objectives.
Additionally, if old social movements, namely the worker's movement, presupposed a
working class base and ideology, the new social movements are presumed to draw from a
different social class base, i.e., "the new class. " This is a complex contemporary class
structure that Claus Offe identifies as "threefold" in its composition: the new middle class,
elements of the old middle class, and peripheral groups outside the labor market. The
groups of people that are marginal in the labor market, such as students, housewives, and
the unemployed participate in the collective actions as a consequence of their higher levels
of free time, their position of being at the receiving end of bureaucratic control and their
inability to be fully engaged in society specifically in terms of employment and consumption.

Key Points:

 New social movements (NSMs) are described by a theory regarding social movements
which posits that the advent of the post industrial economy resulted in a new wave of
social movements distinct from those social movements arising during the industrial
economy.
 In these new social movements, more importance is attached to social and cultural
concerns, rather than economic or political considerations.
 Actors in NSMs are from a new middle class, instead of from the lower classes, as was
typical of social movements of the industrial economy.
 NSMs consist of informal, loosely organized social networks of supporters rather than
members and tend to be locally-based.
 NSMs act as a platform for collective action in civil society or in the cultural domain,
rather than as an instrumental tool for the state. As such, new movements are often
considered to be anti-authoritarian.
 NSMs are normally centered on a single issue, or a limited range of issues which are
related to a broader theme, such as the environment.
 Critiques of NSM theory include the fact that non-materialistic movements existed in the
industrial-era and materialistic movements persist in the post-industrial economy; while
there are few traits that are specific to new social movements, differences between old

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 and new movements have already been explained by theories preceding NSM; and the
NSM does not take into account right-wing movements.

New Social Movements in Indian context

Gail Omvedt (1994) postulates that the new social movements are making appearance in
India in the context of the overall crisis of political and economic systems and ideologies.
The collapse of state socialist societies and the crisis of Marxism spels the failure of what
has been hitherto the hegemonic ideology of liberation or the primary historical response to
the exploitation of the capitalist system. The neoliberal ideologies that came in the wake of
the failure of Marxism does not offer any solution, and the resultant vacuum is ought to be
filled by nationalist, ethnic, communal and religious fundamentalist forces. There is a
growing concern about environmental, social justice, and gender equity, and other
neglected issues by the new social movements. However, this counter-hegemonic force is
still weak.

Rajni Kothari (1984) in his reflections on the people's movements and grassroots politics in
India delineates the trend of what he calls 'the non-party political process', presumably in
the Gandhian and unconventional traditions, and locates it in the larger context of the
declining role the state in social transformation in India and so-called democracy being
undermined by corruption, criminalisation, and repression and depolticisation of large
masses of people with precarious livelihood conditions. It is in this context that the
phenomenon of non-party political formations, distinct from governing and opposition
parties, on the one hand, and from non-political voluntary agencies working on various
development schemes, on the other, are emerging in a number of grassroots movements
launched by non-traditional left. The examples are Chipko movement in U. P. Himalayan
districts (now Uttarakhand), the miners' struggles in Chhattisgarh, the Ryot Coolie Sangham
in Andhra Pradesh, the Satyagraha led by the peasants in Kankapura in Karnataka against
the mining and export of granite, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. In these grassroots
movements, 'the struggle is not limited to economic and political demands but is extended
to cover ecological, cultural and educational issues. Nor is it limited to the external enemy
as it includes a sustained and long drawn out campaign against more pervasive sources of
economic and cultural ruin such as drunkenness, despoilation of the environment and
insanitary habits, reminding one of the original conception of Swarajya as a struggle for
liberation not just from alien rule but also from internal decay' (Kothari 1984: 220).
D.L. Sheth (2005) theorises new social movements in India as 'micro-movements’ and sees
them as harbingers of 'new politics' setting a trail of alternative politics to the prevailing
patterns. He interprets the micro-movements as a defensive response to neoliberal model of
market democracy and the Indian state linking itself to the vertical hierarchy of global
economic and political power. Political and social movements at the grassroots have
emerged as significant countervailing processes and forces, making new provincial and
national level alliances aimed at countering the state's policies of globalisation.
The most recent new social movement in India today is the India Against Corruption (IAC)
led by Anna Hazare. It was launched in the Spring of 2011 in the wake of the heady Arab
Spring of the same year marked by a wave of democratic movements through much of West
Asia. The non-party, extra-parliamentary IAC campaign mounted a significant crusade
against political, bureaucratic, and economic corruption, made out a case for electoral and
party system reforms, besides making a plea for incorporation of a strong dose of direct

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democratic devices into the model of parliamentary federal democracy under the Indian
Constitution since 1950.

This movement subsequently got split (in September 2012) into (a) the parent non-party
movement under Anna Hazare, and (b) the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Arvind Kejrival.
The elders led by Anna wished to keep the non-party political character of the movement,
while the younger cohorts led by Kejriwal parted company to form a new political party as a
vehicle of alternative politics turning its back to the prevailing features of corrupt,
criminalised, and non-participatory 'high command'-dominated party politics. In the just
concluded round of Assembly elections in five states in November-December 2013, the AAP
made a spectacular debut in Delhi surging to became the second largest party with 28 seats
in a House of 70, reducing the ruling Indian National Congress to just 8 seats and curbing
the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party at 31. The party is setting a new trend of internal
party democracy, transparency of fund-raising, and exemplary commitment to political
morality even though no existing law requires it to do so. No other party has been doing
so. It has brought in a fresh morning breeze of a new brand of an alternative politics as well
as demanding a strong dose of direct democracy reminiscent of the Gandhian vision Gram
Swaraj(M.P. Singh 2013).

Some important social action programmes

I. SEWA movement

Background

 In 1972 Ela Bhatt founded the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) as a trade
union of self employed women. In registering as a trade union, SEWA faced major
resistance because the Labor Department felt that since members had no employer
SEWA did not fit the model of a trade union.

 After arguing that a union is not only for struggles against employers, but more
importantly it is for the unity of workers, SEWA was finally registered as a trade union
in 1972 with 320 members.

 . It grew out of the Textile Labour Association , TLA, India's oldest and largest union of
textile workers founded in 1920 by a women, Anasuya Sarabhai.

 The inspiration for the union came from Mahatma Gandhi, who led a successful strike
of textile workers in 1917.

 SEWA adopts an Integrated & Need based Approach to Organizing the poor, self-
employed women workers.

 Presently It is a member-based movement of about 7,00,000 poor, informal sector

women workers of India.

 SEWA movement covers 7 states of India. It exclusively works in 14 districts of Gujarat,

covering 50% of the State of Gujarat

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 There are about 3500 local producers groups and 9 Economic Federation. Members
represent more than 125 different kind of trades

 SEWA’s main goals are to organise women workers for full employment. (Full
employment means employment whereby workers obtain work security, income
security, food security and social security )

 Practically, the strategy is carried out through the joint action of union and
cooperatives.

 Gandhian thinking is the guiding force for SEWA’s poor, self-employed members in
organising for social change following the principles of satya (truth), ahinsa (non-
violence), sarvadharma (integrating all faiths, all people) and khadi (propagation of
local employment and self reliance).

 The SEWA movement is enhanced by its being a sangam or confluence of three

movements : the labour movement, the cooperative movement and the
women’s movement.

 It is also a movement of self-employed workers : their own, home-grown movement

with women as the leaders. Through their own movement women become strong and
visible.

The Sewa Approach

 Organize women workers into trade groups, often helping them create cooperatives.
They further help build their members’ capacity through training on technical skills,
leadership, and product development. These organizing services help empower working
women by allowing them to demand higher wages, better prices, and better work
conditions, and also by increasing their productivity
 SEWA’s approach in organising rural members has been to identify the issues or needs
of the communities. Design demand driven programmes that strategically link with the
existing Government programmes thereby satisfy the needs of the communities.
 SEWA's approach has been an integrated approach, where various inputs are needed
not one after the other but simultaneously.
 SEWA thereby strategically links the producers and their demands to the market.
 SEWA provides its members with both financial and social support. Through SEWA’s
cooperative bank (governed, owned, a run mainly by the members themselves) SEWA
provides its members with access to low interest loans, the ability to develop savings
accounts, and the opportunity to buy into various insurance schemes.
 Through several cooperatives and in some cases coordination with the government,
SEWA offers its members a variety of social services, such as health care, child care,
literacy courses, better housing and access to water.
 SEWA advocates on behalf of its members to local, national, and international bodies
demanding changes in laws to take into account self-employed women’s critical role in
the labor force.

Outcomes of SEWA Movement

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 In reaching its own goals – to empower self-employed women workers through full
employment and self reliance – SEWA has succeeded.
 In terms of SEWA’s goal of its members’ self reliance, the data demonstrated that 60
percent of members reported significant increases in self-confidence after SEWA
trainings, and members felt an increase of 10 – 25 percentage points in household
decision making power.
 With a starting membership of 320 in 1973, SEWA’s numbers have increased
tremendously. it has 1,256,944 registered members across India. While 50 percent of
its membership is based in the starting state of Gujarat, the other 50 percent are
dispersed across 11 states.
 John Blaxall in his report for the World Bank, points to four key factors in explaining
SEWA’s success – its leadership, flexibility, values, and organizing strategy.
 Rekha Datta in her 2003 article on SEWA attributed SEWA’s success to the working
women finding suitable strategies for themselves.
 Nitya Rao in her analysis lists 14 factors from its training to how it handles internal
conflict. While they all point to strategies that were very influential in SEWA success.
 SEWA was able to emerge very successfully because it provided selective incentives to
self employed women, fostered a common identity and shared purpose between the
women, and ensured its continuity through democratic governance and diversified
sources of funding

Narmada Bachao Andolan

Background

 Narmada Bachao Andolan- Social movement (tribal people, adivasis, farmers,

environmentalists and human rights activists) against the Sardar Sarovar Dam being
built across the Narmada river, Gujarat, India.

 Displacement of 2,50,000 people from their land in three states ( Gujrat, Madhy
Pradesh and Maharashtra) and Loss of agricultural land and forest(approx. 37,000
hectares) .

 Focus of the movement - saving the trees and the fauna, rehabilitation of the poor
people living around the area.
 Movement started in 1986 when the World Bank lent India $450 million for the
Sardar Sarovar project.
 Movement started by a social worker named Medha Patkar
 As leader and co-founder of Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Movement),
she has been spearheading the movement against the building of the Sardar Sarovar
Dam on the Narmada river in Gujarat, giving particular attention to the rehabilitation
of the poor who are being displaced by the project.

The NBA’s Approach

 The success of the NBA campaign resulted from its innovative strategies of resistance
that operated simultaneously at the grassroots, national, and international level.
 While the NBA originally employed ‘‘Gandhian methods’’ such as peaceful marches and
protests, after a high-profile hunger fast in 1991 failed, the NBA announced a
‘‘noncooperation movement’’ in the Narmada valley. This movement campaigned

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 against the payment of taxes and sought to deny entry to the villages to all
government officials, except teachers and doctors.
 Strategies include legal challenges, demonstration, civil ‐disobedience and other non ‐
violent tactics.
 Large-scale protests at home were complemented by international interventions
abroad. Lori Udall, then with the Environmental Defense Fund, led the international
campaign against the Sardar Sarovar dam and implemented a ‘‘multi-pronged strategy
of public pressure, organizing, media outreach, and lobbying.
 A Narmada International Action Committee—consisting of NGOs from India, the United
States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Japan—lobbied against the Narmada Project in
several investing countries which helped focus international and national attention on
the Narmada issue.

Outcomes of NBA

 APART from bringing the dam-displacement issue to national and international

attention, the NBA has succeeded in bringing women out of homes to stand shoulder-
to-shoulder with their menfolk at the forefront of resistance.
 The NBA has succeeded in uniting people across the language divide of the three
affected States.
 The World Bank announced in June 1991 that it would commission a team of
independent experts, known as the Morse Commission, to reexamine the Sardar
Sarovar Project. The Commission’s independent review had two aims: to assess steps
taken to resettle those affected by the Sardar Sarovar dam, and to assess the efficacy
of measures aimed at diminishing the project’s environmental impact.
 The NBA’s influence in the social and economic areas in re-defining development in the
face of rampant and destructive corporate-driven industrialisation has been
proportionately large.

National Alliance for People’s Movements

Background

 National Alliance of People's Movements is an alliance of progressive people’s

organizations and movements in India. It struggle across India against injustice and
several other discrimination. It led protest on various issues like anti-globalization, anti-
nuclear movement and electoral reforms.

 NAPM is on the forefront of people’s resistance against development projects
in the country for the last 20 years now.
 It struggle along with Dalit, Adivasi, women, fisher communities, minorities and other
marginalized groups to bring about social, political and economic justice based on
Equality (SAMTATA), Simple Living (SADAGI) and Self-Reliance (SAVAVLAMBAN).
 NAPM believe in non-violent means of struggle, people’s democracy and respecting the
individual identities of diverse people’s movements. ‘Struggle along with
Reconstruction’ through alternative politics is our vision.
 Many independent movements have felt the need to come together as a collective while
retaining their individual identities to struggle against the imperialist global forces. Thus
was the genesis of the National Alliance of People’s Movements in 1992, by various
movements in India including Narmada Bachao Andolan, National Fish Workers Forum,

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 Samajwadi Jan Parishad, Ganga Mukti Andolan, Shoshit Jan Andolan, Sarva Seva Sangh
and many others.

The NAPM approach

 Based on common strategies, programmes and common minimum ideological

understanding while respecting the diverse ideologies that influence the people’s
movements including Gandhian, Ambedkarite, Lohiaite, Feminist and Marxist.
 NAPM aspires to develop a discourse of harmonious relationships among various
communities based on true democracy and pluralism, and against the threat of
fundamentalism and communalism.
 NAPM’s ideology is an ongoing and evolving process, constantly changing and
adapting to situations around us. It challenges the various organisations such as the
World Trade Organisation, World Bank and IMF.
 It stands out as a unique force of people’s politics that challenges present corrupt
and criminal electoral politics in India.
 NAPM believe that social transformation needs a multi-pronged strategy. NAPM thus
uses four tools to bring about social change: Values and Thought, Struggle,
Reconstruction and Electoral Politics.

Outcome of NAPM:

 1996: Nation wide tour leading to a convention at Wardha where over 300 people
representing 100 organisations and 17 states gathered to develop strategies to give
an organisational form to NAPM and to initiate state-wise processes.
 Struggle against, Enron Corporation, which is a corrupt US-based power generation
multi-national corporation (MNC) and Coca-Cola launched.
 1998: Anti-nuclear movement and a four month Global Peace March from Pokhran,
Rajasthan (nuclear testing site), to Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh.
 2003: Initiation of Desh Bachao Desh Banao (Save the Nation Build the Nation)
Campaign, a three month long tour covering 15 states of India and culminating at
Ayodhya to evolve a national movement.
 2004: Formation of People’s Political Front (PPF): Some of the constituents of NAPM
had a strong belief that in order to bring about social change it was imperative to get
directly involved in electoral politics along with people’s movements. This idea has a
long drawn process within the NAPM strategy. Ultimately it was decided that NAPM
should retain its autonomous identity and there should be a separate, but related
front to directly intervene in electoral politics. As a result, PPF was launched in 2004.
 2005: Campaign against slum demolition in Mumbai and formation of an alliance of
organisations working on slum issues (Zopadi Bachao Sayukt Kriti Samiti).

Conclusions:

Protest in the Narmada valley is not new. In September 2012, protesters in the
Omkareshwar area braved the dirty submergence waters for 17 days, after which the Chief
Minister agreed to reduce the water level.For over twenty years, the movement has adopted
a strategy of non-cooperation, mass mobilisation and non-violent forms of protest including
rallies, picketing, sit-ins, fasts and the more extreme case of “save or drown actions”.
Activist villagers have refused to vacate their ancestral homes. As a result they have

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resisted and faced police atrocities and repressive tactics including mass arrests,
harassment, sexual assault, bulldozing of their homes as well as the clear-felling of their
forests. The Narmada and other anti-displacement movements across India have for
decades highlighted the dark side of infrastructure projects which have often led to an
unequal spread of pains and gains. This is particularly true through processes of forced
displacement that have been inimical to the livelihoods of poor and marginalised people in
rural areas.

5.4.6 Summary

Points to Ponder:

No. Points to Ponder

1 Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) is a social movement consisting of adivasis,
farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists against the number of large
dams being built across the NarmadaRiver/
2 It estimated that the reservoir would submerge 40000 hectares of land 250
villages, which disrupt downstream fisheries and on the whole case extensive
ecology damage.There were no any proper arrangements from the government for
the people of the community. They also not made any rehabilitation or resettle the
habitats for the region.

3 THE Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) has completed 30 years of people’s resistance
to the dam projects in the Narmada valley.
4 Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) is a social movement consisting
of adivasis, farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists against the
number of large dams being built across the Narmada River, which flows through
the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, all over India.
5 Baba Amte was one of India’s most respected social and moral leaders, while
Medha Patkar, a graduate in social work, is one of the initiators of The Save the
Narmada Movement (Narmada Bachao Andolan, NBA)
6
SEWA is a trade union registered in 1972. It is an organisation of poor, self-
employed women workers. These are women who earn a living through their own
labour or small businesses.
7 EWA’s main goals are to organise women workers for full employment. Full
employment means employment whereby workers obtain work security, income
security, food security and social security (at least health care, child care and
shelter). SEWA organises women to ensure that every family obtains full
employment. By self-reliance we mean that women should be autonomous and
self-reliant, individually and collectively, both economically and in terms of their
decision-making ability.
8 SEWA organise workers to achieve their goals of full employment and self reliance
through the strategy of struggle and development. The struggle is against the
many constraints and limitations imposed on them by society and the economy,
while development activities strengthen women’s bargaining power and offer them
new alternatives. Practically, the strategy is carried out through the joint action of
union and cooperatives.

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9 SEWA is both an organisation and a movement. The SEWA movement is enhanced
by its being a sangam or confluence of three movements : the labour movement,
the cooperative movement and the women’s movement. But it is also a movement
of self-employed workers : their own, home-grown movement with women as the
leaders.
10 National Alliance of People's Movements is an alliance of progressive people’s
organizations and movements in India. It struggle across India against injustice
and several other discrimination. It led protest on various issues like anti-
globalization, anti nuclear movement and electoral reforms.
11 The NAPM has been a growing process. It does not strive to be a federation of
constituent members. It is a coming together, a process of like-minded groups and
movements who while retaining their autonomous identities, are working together
to bring the struggle for a people-oriented development model to the centre-stage
of politics and public life. It is understood that such an alliance, emerging with a
definite ideological commonality and common strategy, can give rise to a strong
social, political force and a national people's movement.
12 NAPM's work has to gather the kind of momentum and scale that the present
situation demands and become a national movement indeed. There is a need for
many more people to come together and explore ways of creating an effective
political platform for building a movement for fundamental change. This process
requires a deeper dialogue and discussion on many more issues and questions than
those we have addressed so far.

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