Turning Movements into Political Action

Hahrie Han's article from the Atlantic was quite thorough and precise in analyzing necessary prerequisites for the creation of successful social movements whilst it is possible to draw several links to our class discussions. I think the most important aspect is the coherence of demands when it comes to demonstrating. This was in my opinion the greatest weakness of the Women's March, where although there was great participation and a very emotional vibe throughout the march, there was also a serious lack of purpose. The speeches were very general and did not address particular elites which could in turn be influential. Relating this further to the US political scene, I believe that the two party system, seriously diminishes the possibility for the formation of successful social movements mostly because particular demands and initiatives to change specific policies are defused into a more general policy that includes opinions from a very broad spectrum. For example, demands expressed by Bernie Sanders and by many others throughout the years are being difused into a more general neoliberal policy within the Democratic Party. This is not two say that social movements cannot succeed without the support of political entities, however, some political elites have to take the burden in the case of successful political movements, and essentially execute the demands. In the case of the Democratic Party, it doesn't seem that there is anyone who at the moment is ready to adopt more divergent approaches and essentially facilitate more particular changes.