University College Maastricht
Social Movements
Full course description
This course is designed to introduce students to the sociological study of social movements. An overview of the field will be provided by identifying key concepts, theories and methods through examination of a variety of case studies. Salient themes addressed will include: democracy, identity, globalization, civil rights, environmentalism, gender, sexuality, class and ethnicity/race. While much attention will be placed on social movements within Europe and North America, a global- comparative perspective will be periodically emphasized. The over- arching goal of the course will be to reveal the ways in which social movements work to both produce and resist social change. Some of the main questions addressed in the course will be: What is a social movement? Why do people join social movements? How do movements gain/lose momentum? What is the relationship between social movements and democracy? And, under what conditions do social movements 'succeed'?Course objectives
• To become conversant in the major questions driving social movement research. • To become conversant in the key theories and concepts driving social movement research. • To become conversant in the primary methods driving social movement research. • To evaluate and assess social movement research in a critical and constructive manner. • To design a case study and initiate an original empirical study of social movements. • To reflect on the relevance and utility of studying social movements.SSC3013
Period 4
5 Feb 2024
5 Apr 2024
ECTS credits:
5.0Instruction language:
EnglishCoordinator:
Teaching methods:
Lecture(s), PBL