Social Movement Theory seeks to explain collective action of a group in terms of why, when, and how. The point of SMT as a framework is to explain collective action and social mobilization in terms of the behavior of rational actors over time.
2. Is there any reason we couldn't use the same analytical framework to study, say, the American Civil Rights movement and movements for political change in the MENA region?
Naturally, social movements vary in terms of social and historical contexts and multiple theories exist to explain how or why such movements occur - such as resource mobilization, political opportunity, rational choice, and relative deprivation. While movements may be similar in terms of ideal outcome, say a shift in power, they cannot be analyzed under the same framework due to their inherent differences. The differences are not because the people of one region are fundamentally better than those of another, as set forth in the orientalist mindset, but rather because the atmosphere of each area are inherently different from one another.
Taking the American Civil Rights Movement and the movements for political change in MENA, the two cannot be analyzed in the same light because the two differ in terms of political context, cultural context, and resources. Before the American Civil Rights Movement, the United States was already a well established democracy providing for a majority of its citizens, and it can be argued that this movement held more of a post-materialist focus in its quest for greater civil liberties or freedoms for a group of Americans. Whereas, the movements for political change in the MENA region focus more on the liberation of peoples from political oppression in a different sense. Poverty stricken, corrupt, and abusive, the potential political change in MENA is far different than the type of political change applicable because of the ACRM.
3. What use can SMT be in understanding the success of Islamist movements?
Social Movement Theory can be useful in helping to understand the successes of Islamist movements by providing a framework in which we can look at the movements. SMT serves as a guide by which we look to why, when and how. Thus for understanding the success of Islamist movements we can dissect the resources Islamist movements used to garner collective support the political structure of the state(s) in which social mobilization took place, the hundreds of years of tribal culture, empires, and religious strife that overwhelmed the region. All of this information found through SMT can help to explain the origins of a movement and help to identify the features aided the movement's success, and those that didn't, which can predict the future successes or failures of other Islamist movements.
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