Civil Rights Movement Summary

The American Civil Rights Movement is a subject that is highly studies in Sociology. There are seven chapters of the book which explain the rise and fall of the Black Insurgency. Empirical analysis of each of the seven chapter headings is done to see how the current social movement theories apply. The McAdams book goes into details of how social groups develop and the way they navigated through diverse spheres seeking political and economic changes. Per the author, the book has two objectives. The first objective is to explain the current state of the social theories regarding social movements, and the second objective is about how the different mobilization models applied to the black insurgency of the civil rights movements. There are
three mobilization models mentioned in the book: The Classic/Pluralist model, the Resource Mobilization model, and the Political Process model.
The classic political pluralist model is the first model discussed in the book which is quite ironic since today the pluralistic model has vanished from the US political system. This model is based on the notion that there are many different competing groups in politics that hold a portion of power that prevent any single group from wielding complete authority which would prevent others from participating in the political process. Then there is a brief statement about what theories are considered under the classical model and how they are similar except for minor parts of the model. The sequence for the classical model is given as social strain>disruptive psychological state>social movement. The first theory that is summarized is Mass Society theory which is based on the premise of social isolation being the main requirement for social protest. The sequence for mass society theory: Social Isolation>Alienation and Anxiety> Extreme Behavior (Social Movement). Next, McAdams explains Status Inconsistency as the status discrepancy with one aspects of an individual’s status being considered a
high rank in society while the other aspects of that same individual might be low ranking and is sequenced as Severe and widespread status inconsistencies>Cognitive Dissonance>Social Movement. The last theory discussed in the first chapter is the Collective Behavior requires social strain and the more strain the more likely a movement is to occur thus the sequence is Strain>Normative ambiguity>Social movement. Lastly, the author closes the chapter with a listing the three similarities between the classical movement theories with 1) Collective reaction to a form of disruptive system strain, 2) Psychological effect that the strain has on individuals, and 3) Need to manage psychological tension of a stressful social situation. The weakness of the classical model is the false assumption that ordinary political behavior and social movements are different and the idea of the pluralistic government.
In chapter two, the author discusses Resource Mobilization theory as an alternative to the Classical model but he thinks that this model is also deficient in explaining social movements. In this model, social movements are not seen as irrational behavior. It is also quickly noted that this model is privy to the fact that in America there really isn’t a pluralist society and that there are many groups which lack the capital needed to advance their collective interest. The model is explained through social psychological theories and is about acquiring resources and mobilizing people. The model describes how prior organizations or groups are important for providing funding, and a united voice with a collective grievance definition helps promote the cause.
Chapter 3 presents the argument for the political process model. This model is seen as the most favorable because of the two ideas conveyed: Social movements aren’t psychological but instead political phenomena, and that movements represent a continuous process rather than developing stages. This model says that insurgency is the result of both the resource mobilization and the classical models. Three factor that birthed generational insurgency are: expanding political opportunities, indigenous organizational strength, and shared cognition within the minority.
For the remaining chapters of the book, the author supports is claim for the political process model. He uses examples from the Civil Rights Movements to show how the weaknesses and strengths of all three models, but more emphasis is placed on the Political Process model. An example of this can be found on page 112 in which the author discusses how three historical processes led to the development of black insurgency, these processes were: political alignment favorable to blacks, institutional development of southern black communities, and cognitive liberation.
Overall, the book was a good way of introducing the three models with enough detail to get a solid understanding of the differences between them.
Even with the supporting evidence throughout the book for the Political Process model, I fail to see how it can be the sole explanation for such a large and successful movement. The inclusion of the more analytical details seemed to overcomplicate the subject rather than aid the explanations. I would like to have seen more information on the actual historical events and not just the pieces that are referencing the political aspects which support the authors claim. I would have also like to see more information about how the actual politicians and constituents were dealing with the rise of the insurgency since their approval of the movement would be necessary for the movement to have gain the success that it
did.