Political movement

A political movement is a social movement working in the area of politics.

A political movement may be organized around a single issue or set of issues, or around a set of shared concerns of a social group. In contrast with a political party, a political movement is not organized to elect members of the movement to government office; instead, a political movement aims to convince citizens and/or government officers to take action on the issues and concerns which are the focus of the movement.

Political movements are an expression of the struggle for the political space and benefits. These are an expression of the contentions in a polity. The political movements are by non-state groups who are led by their elite. The elite of the group lead the movement. In fact the process of the construction of identities and reinforcing them is also a part of political movements. Charles Tilly in his Politics of Collective Violence has given a comprehensive framework for study of the political movements which turn coercive.

A political movement may be local, regional, national, or international in scope. Classic examples include abolitionism, anarchism, the women's suffrage, the Labour movement, universal suffrage movements and anticolonialist movements. More recent examples include the international human rights movement, second wave feminism, the Ecology movement, the gay rights movement, the Disability rights movement, MoveOn in the United States, the Ratana movement in New Zealand, Sinn Féin in Ireland, the Anti-globalization movement, and the Roosevelt Institution.

Presently there are several political movements occuring at the moment. One of which is the War Resisters Support Campaign taking place in Canada.

See also

• protests
• revolution