Social Movements in India: Role of Caste and Religion

Abstract

Social movements are thus clearly different from historical movements, tendencies or trends. Social movements primarily take the form of non-institutionalised collective political action which strives for political and /or social change. While India has witnessed many such movements over the centuries, it is only recently that scholars have begun to study them in depth. The term ‘social movement’ gained currency in European languages in the early nineteenth century. This was the period of social upheaval. A social movement is a deliberate collective endeavour to promote direction and by any means, not excluding violence, illegality, revolution or withdrawal into ‘utopian’ community. Social movements are thus clearly different from historical movements, tendencies or trends. It is important to note, however, that such tendencies and trends, and the influence of the unconscious or irrational factors in human behaviour, may be of crucial importance in illuminating the problems of interpreting and explaining social movement.