Social

Before we discuss the four types of social movements, we need to be clear on what exactly a social movement is. A social movement consists of a group of people or an organization the focuses on a specific issue, such as a person’s freedom of speech. There are four types of social movements we will be discussing, starting with alternative social movements.
Alternative Social Movements Alternative social movements focus on small groups of people and attempt to change a certain belief, thought or behavior towards a specific issue. In this form of social movement, they are looking for something to be done. For example, most people have heard of the organization Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD); in this organization the members are all focused on the same outcome, which is reducing the number of people who drink and drive.
Redemptive Social Movements Redemptive social movements are another form of social movements that also focuses on a small group of people; however they are looking for more of an extreme change compared to the alternative social movement. Most religious movements fall under this category as they are typically formed to push a person into being re-born into a different religion.
Reformative Social Movements Reformative social movements focus on an entire society, and try to change society’s view on something. With this type of social movement, it is similar to alternative social movements as it is only looking at a more restricted change. A good example of a reformative social movement using the environment would be recycling. Today, there are many organizations that push people to recycle to help save the world from pollution.
Revolutionary Social Movements The last type of social movements is revolutionary social movements and like the reformative social movements, it targets our society. However, the revolutionary social movements that occur are looking for a more extreme change than that of the reformative social