Essay On Moyer's Eight Stages Of Successful Social Movements

Recently, as I get more invested and involved in activism, I have been feeling a little overwhelmed. I’m still learning, but I was almost obsessively thinking about how the oppressive systems seem undefeatable. At a time where I could only see harm, these articles helped me see the hope in activism. These readings were motivating and reassuring for me in my outlook on activism. Moyer’s Eight stages of successful social movements, was comforting because it showed that each stage has its pitfalls. Becoming discouraged and disheartened is normal and shouldn’t completely discredit action. In another sense, it was also reassuring to see how social movements are a complicated process. Failure is okay and almost expected and reading this allowed me to break away from the idea that failure is final and that I only have once chance. The interview with Erica
Chenoweth also gave me a sense of hope.
With so much violence nowadays, it seems like there is no other way for opposing sides to act. I found it extremely interesting that nonviolent actions “dramatically outperform” violent ones even in cases of authoritarian regimes and dictatorships. Both articles gave me a small sense of validation; I’m not crazy for believing in the power of organizing and nonviolence. Chenoweth’s examples of successful movements, especially those in grave conditions, was also extremely uplifting. Furthermore, both articles gave a huge insight into the process of social movements and what successful movements look like. The entire time I was reading these articles it was just me thinking, “wow yea this makes so much sense”. Specifically, the importance and power of nonviolence was surprising to me. Violence can discredit a movement and interferes with
participation, which Chenoweth notes as a key component in the success of a movement. It also makes a lot of sense that the method is critical in establishing the new system or process of injustice that is being reformed. Violence may lead to a revolution, but cannot create a new system that pleases the people, for violence is inherently rejected by humans. Her studies showing the success of nonviolence was very powerful to me because, like she mentions, it seems like people are committed to violence. Moreover, a couple key points I really found helpful in understanding the process of social movements in Chenoweth’s interview are unity, strategic planning, and nonviolent discipline. It takes time to gain momentum and support on a large scale, but mutual grievance is a strong force. The process is a long uphill struggle, however the end result is obviously worth it. Having large support helps forward the movement and it also helps form a community that supports those in the movement and those directly affected by the social injustice that is being focused on. Planning and strategy is also a main theme in both readings. For success to be reached there must be thoughtful, reasonable, and planned. Overall, both readings created a more hopeful looking dialogue with myself about social movements and gave me a better understanding of how I can be active long term with movements.