Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 8 Social Movements

Kerala Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers Chapter 8 Social Movements

Social Movements Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Who wrote the book The Logic of Collective Action’?
a) Mancur Olson
b) McCarthy
c) Zald
d) James Scott
Answer:
Mancur Olson

Question 2.
Where did the Chipko Movement start?
a) Haryana
b) Gujarat
c) Himachal Pradesh
d) Punjab
Answer:
Himachal Pradesh

Question 3.
When did the Jharkhand Movement start?
a) 1994
b) 2000
c) 2001
d) 2002
Answer:
2000

Question 4.
…………. was a movement in England that conceived parliamentary democracy.
Answer:
Chartist

Question 5.
………and ……….. are the discoverers of Mobilization theory?
Answer:
McCarthy, Zald

Question 6.
The Movement organized by Sri Narayana Guru to change the social practice of the Ezhavas of Kerala is an example of ……… Social Movement.
Answer:
Transformatory

Question 7.
………. Social Movements try to bring social and political changes.
Answer:
Reformative

Question 8.
………… Social Movements acquire the ruling power and bring changes in social relations.
Answer:
Revolutionary

Question 9.
………… Movement is against deforestation or felling of trees.
Answer:
Chipko

Question 10.
In his book, Gail Omvedt said that the primary attention of Social Movements must be in social inequality and differences in the distribution of raw I materials.
Answer:
Reinventing Revolution

Question 11.
What was the Movement that was formed in the Himalayan valleys?
Answer:
Chipko

Question 12.
The Movement that upheld the principle of bio-system and biodiversity?
Answer:
Chipko

Question 13.
The Movement that originated in Bengal demanding 2/3 share of what they produce, instead of the 50% they were getting?
Answer:
Naxalbari

Question 14.
Which Indian state has the maximum number of Tribal Movements?
Answer:
Jharkhand

Question 15.
Match the following.

Answer:

Question 16.
What are differences between Old and New Social Movements?
Answer:
There are differences between the two in the backgrounds, goals, political natures and their spread.
a) The historical backgrounds of the Old and New Social Movements are different. The old ones came up in the background of capitalism, socialist movements, colonialism and so on. With the growth of capitalism, a powerful working class came up. The working classes of the Western capitalist countries fought for better wages, better living conditions, social security, free education, health security, etc. Similar fights were also seen in the agricultural sector. There the fight was to end exploitations by the landowners and get their own lands.

There were also freedom movements in different parts of the world against colonialism. The New social movements had different backgrounds. These movements came up during the period after WWII. They originated from problems like war, gender exploitation, racial discrimination, exploitation of the environment, etc.

b) The goals are different. The old ones want the restructuring of authority. They were functioning within the framework of political parties. For example, Indian National Movement was led by the Indian National Congress. The Chinese Revolution was led by the Communist Party. A group of thinkers believes that the old activities carried out by trade unions and parties of workers are losing their relevance and they are becoming weak.

Another group thinks that wealthy Western nations have become Welfare States and therefore exploitation by a certain class and inequality are no more big issues. The new social movements are not interested in restructuring the authority. They handle general things like clean environment and so on.

c) Old Social Movements gave the central place to political parties. Rajni Kothari thinks that it as the dissatisfaction with parliamentary democracy that caused the social movements of the 1970s to come up. He thinks that all the establishments of the nation are in the hands of the elite. Therefore elections through political parties will not bring the voice of the poorto the Centre of Power.

So people leave political parties and join non-political movements. Thus they are able to put pressure on the government. Examples of such non-political movements are the new NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), Women Organizations, Environmental Fellowships, Tribal Movements, etc. To show the old and new social movements, nowadays the name Civil Society is used.

d) There is also difference in the spread between the Old and the New. Old ones remain within the boundaries of the nation. They did not have a global nature. But for the New Social movements, boundaries are not a problem.

Question 17.
Write a note on Naxalbari Movement.
Answer:
This Movement started in the region of Naxalbari In Bengal in 1967. OfSaru Majumdar, who belonged to the CPI (ML) led the protests against the exploitation and violence by landowners. The protests were done by Adivasis, sharecroppers, tenants and small-scale fanners. The mode of protest included forcefully taking the land from owners and distributing it to the landless, reaping the crops from the fields of the zamindars, attacking their homes and taking the grain hoarded there. The Naxalbaris killed some landowners who were very cruel.

They also organized guerrilla attacks. The protest began in March 1967. Kanu Sanyal points out that all villagers were involved in the protest in just one month: 15,000 to 20,000 villagers became full-time workers of the Movement. In each village, a committee was formed. The committee members were armed. They grabbed the land of the zamindars. They burned all the documents of ownership of land. Many zamindars were tried -by popular courts and were sentenced to death. They took the guns of the zamindars and formed armed groups.

They also used traditional weapons like bow and arrow and spears. They released hundreds of villages from the zamindars. They also set up parallel governments in the villages to look after their affairs. Although the government tried hard to suppress the Movement, it did not go away fully. Even now it is very active in many places.

Question 18.
How can we group the various Social Movements?
Answer:
We can group them into three:
a) Redemptive or Transformatory
b) Reformative
c) Revolutionary
Redemptory Social Movements are those which try to bring changes in the working of their members or In their personal awareness. For example, the Movement under the leadership of Sri Narayana Guru tried to bring changes in the social rituals of the Ezhava community in Kerala.

Reformative Social Movements try to bring about gradual changes in the existing socio-political order. Movements that organized the agitation demanding the formation of States on linguistic basis and those who fought for making the Right to Information Law are Reformative Social-Movements, Revolutionary Social Movements try to completely change the existing social order. Often they bring these changes by capturing power. The Bolshevik Revolution of Russia and the Naxalite Movement of India are examples. Bolshevik Revolution removed the Tsar from the throne and tried to make Russia a Communist country. The Naxalites tried to bring an equitable society by wiping out all the cruel zamindars and officials.

Question 19.
What are the special features of Social Movements?
Answer:
They are:
a) Stable and collective actions.
b) Organizing
c) Leadership
d) Structure

Question 20.
Which are the three Organizations that worked for gender equality?
Answer:
They are:
a) Women’s India Association (WIA 197)
b) All India Women’s Conference (AIWC 1926)
c) National Council for Women in India (NCWI 1925).

Question 21.
What are the special features of Social Movements?
Answer:
They are:
a) Stable and collective actions.
b) Organizing
c) Leadership
d) Structure
e) Common goals and ideology
f) Collective attitude to change

Question 22.
What are the differences between Social Changes and Social Movements?
Answer:
Social Movements work for social changes. Social changes are a continuous process. They happen because of the collective work of countless number of people. Social Movements are formed to achieve certain goals. Prolonged and continuous social efforts and working are the basic factors of Social Movements. Sanskritization and westernization are examples of Social Changes. The Reform Movements of the 19^th century are examples of Social Movements.

Question 23.
Explain the theories of Social Movements in Sociology.
Answer:
There are many theories regarding Social Movements. The most important of them are
a) Relative Rejection Theory,
b) Mancur Olson’s Theory and
c) Theory of Resource Mobilization of McCarthy and Zald.

a) This theory says that conflict occurs when one social section feels that its condition is worse than the others. Such conflict may result in collective protests. This theory stresses psychological factors like anger and resentment in the formation of Social Movements. This theory has certain limitations. The feeling that one section is rejected might be necessary for collective action. But that need not be always a reason.

On many occasions, people feel that they are rejected, but they do not become Social Movements. In short, just because there is a problem, Social Movements don’t start. To form a Social a Movement in a stable and organized way there is a need to bring the affected people together. Through this, a common ideology and an action plan are made. Problems are deliberately brought forward to take corrective action. It is done by leadership and structure.

b) Mancur Olson presents his theory on Social Movement in his book titled “The Logic of Collective Action”. He argued that it is the activities of rational people who pursue their self-serving interests that allow the growth the Social Movements. A person becomes a member of a Social Movement only when he has some benefit from it. He should have more gains than losses to be a member of an organization. In short, people join Social Organizations to gain maximum benefit for themselves. Many people do not agree with this view of Olson. They argue that when people join organizations they do not first sit down to calculate the expenses and profits of such membership.

c) Resource Mobilization theory was put forward by McCarthy and Mayer Nathan Zald. They rejected theory of Olsen that Social Movements are the creations of self-serving people. They argued that the success of a Social Movement depends on its ability for resource mobilization. By resources they mean things like leadership, organizing skill and communication facilities. They added if the resources are used by taking advantage of the existing political opportunities, the Movement will be more successful. Critics had their own views on this theory. They argued that Social Movements do not rely on the available resources.

They can create new sources and go forward. They pointed out that many movements by poor people had succeeded although they did not have many resources. Even Movements formed with limited resources and organizational bases can get resources as the fight is on.

Social conflicts never lead to natural organized activities. For such an idea to come up, a section must consciously feel that it is suppressed or ignored by others. There is also a need for structure, leadership and a clear ideology.

Somehow social agitations and resistances do not follow this path. People may have a clear idea of their being exploited. But often they can’t fight against it through political force.

James Scott in his book called “Weapons of the Weak” described the lives of farmers and workers in Malaysia. There the protests against injustice were small activities. Such activities can be called ordinary resistance movements.

Question 24.
Mention some of the Old and New Social Movements.
Answer:
Old Social Movements include Movements based on class, Movements against colonization, Worker’s Movements, Farmers’ Movements, and National Movements.
New Social Movements include Anti-war Movements, Civil Rights Movements, Women Movements, and Environmental Movements.

Question 25.
Evaluate Chipko Movement as an Environmental Movement.
Answer:
Chipko Movement is an Environmental Movement. It was formed on the hills of the Himalayan Valley. In his book ‘Restless Forests”, Ramachandra Guha correctly evaluates this Movement. The villagers came together to protect the oak and rhododendron trees near their villages. When the forest contractors came to cut these threes, the villagers, including many women, embraced the trees preventing the workers from cutting them. (Chipko in Hindi means hold tightly or embrace.) These forests provided the livelihood of the villagers.

For their various needs like grass for the cattle, firewood and other things, they depended -on these forests. There the clash was between the government trying to make money by selling trees to greedy contractors and the people struggling for their livelihood. The economics of livelihood was clashing with the economics of profit.

The Chipko Movement raised the issue of environmental stability. Clearing forests will cause environmental damage. In some areas, it will result in soil erosion, floods and landslides.

For the villagers, their livelihood was as important as the protection of forests. As a natural wealth useful to all, they gave a lot of importance to forests. The anger and resentment of the villagers against a government that was unwilling to listen to their problems and solve them were also seen in the Chipko Movement.

The Movement started in Alaknanda village in Himachal Pradesh. This village had experienced many natural tragedies. In 1970, there was a flood. It destroyed the homes, vehicles, roads, and crops of the villagers. Many died in the flood. It was a lesson to the villagers. They started thinking of the relation between deforestation and natural calamities like floods and landslides. They realized that the worst affected areas were those below the deforested areas. A cooperative society named Dasholi Grama Swaraj Mandat, working in the Chamoli village took up the problem of the villagers.

The government did not mind the protests. The forests were auctioned. One of them was Reni forest. The workers of contractors came to Reni with implements to cut down the trees. A small girl who saw these people coming went and informed the matter to Gaura Devi, the president of the Mahila Mandal in the village. Gaura Devi got as many women as she could get and rushed to the forest. They requested the people who were ready to cut the trees, not to fell them. But they did not listen to the request of the village women. They abused Gaura Devi and threatened the other women. Then the women embraced the trees, refusing to go away. The workers were forced to go away.

Question 26.
Describe the special features of the Dalit Movements.
Answer:
The Dalit Movements that were formed after Ambedkar had a revolutionary nature. They put forward an alternative lifestyle. It included avoiding eating beef and conversion into other religions. They stood for ending caste discriminations and economic exploitation. In spite of their revolutionary agenda, they had a reformative nature. They were based on caste. Their efforts to end caste system were half-hearted. Only the educated minority among the Daiits got the benefits of the changes. They failed to uplift the vast majority of the Dalits.

Question 27.
Describe the working style of Social Movements.
Answer:
Social Movement do organized and collective activities. The most obvious action they do is protest. But there are also other things they do. They organize meetings. The purpose of these meetings is to give publicity to their ideologies and programmes and get support from people.

Such meetings help in the formation of common action plans and to bring about a common understanding. They also do things to influence government, the media, and public opinion. Social Movements express their protests in various ways. There are torch marches, showing black flags, street plays, songs, and poems.

Question 28.
Describe the early agricultural protests,
the colonial period. In the Mughal period, there had been different agitations. During the colonial period, farmers protested against landowners, moneylenders, government and estate owners.
Agricultural Movements between 1858 to 1914 were regional, disorganized and limited themselves to some specific Issue. During 1859 to 62, the Bengali Rebellion was against plantation owners. The Deccan Rebellions of 1875 were against moneylenders.

To get the support of the villagers, Gandhi organized Agricultural Movements. There was the Champaran Satyagraha of 1917. It was a protest of the farmers against the indigo farm owners. In 1918 there was the Kheda Satyagraha. Here the farmers wanted tax reductions. In 1929 there was the Bardoli Satyagraha. This was a forerunner of the Civil Disobedience Movement. It was organized in Bardoli in the district of Surat. Here Gandhi asked the people not to pay their taxes. The agitation was organized by Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel, a follower of Gandhi.

During the colonial period, many agricultural movements were formed, most of them between 1920 and 1940. in 1920 many Kisan Sabhaswere formed and most of the later Movements were the Kisan Sabhas was ‘Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (1929). In 1936, an All-India Organization of Kisan Sabhas was formed. It is called All-India Kisan Sabha. The farmers demanded freedom from economic exploitations.

Just before and after independence, India witnessed two very famous agricultural revolts. They were the ‘Thebhaga Rebellion’ (1946-47) and Telangana Rebellion (1946-51) In the Thebhaga Rebellion sharecroppers wanted 2/3 of the produce instead of the 50% they were getting. This rebellion had the backing of the Kisan Sabha and the Indian Communist Party. Telangana Rebellion was against the big landlords in that native sate. It was led by the Indian Communist Party.

Plus Two Sociology Chapter Wise Questions and Answers