Abstract
In a world of great crises—economic, environmental, and political—men and women usually turn to state actors for solutions. The United States government, the European Union, or the World Bank are seen as the agents of change and reform. This focus blurs the stimulus to change that comes from the bottom up via grassroots movements. The events of September 11, 2001, and more recently in Mombai, Thailand, and Greece suggest the power of social movements, non-state actors, to move history and create the crises of current events. In challenging state authority in American history, social movement activists have nurtured revolution, pressed suffrage and equal rights for women, and transformed the racial status quo, among other changes. In the process of staking a claim to influence, a social movement organizes itself as a community governed by alternative role models, values, and rituals. From this base, social movement agents raise hope of a better world and choose mobilization strategies in a quest to govern. Claims on power demand that activists grapple with authorities who stand ready to protect established institutions and practices.
Recommended Citation
Goldberg, Robert A.
(2010)
"The Challenge of Change:
Social Movements as Non-State Actors,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 2010:
No.
1, Article 6.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol2010/iss1/6