Vinculando.org: Revista electrónica latinoamericana en Desarrollo Sustentable

Among the multiple definitions of a social movements, some categorize the manifestations and general aims that move activism. A short review follows of some of the different classifications of social movements, principally transnational ones.

R. Cohen, using an early model from Aberle and Wilson, suggests four kinds of social movements, namely ‘transformative’, reformative, redemptive and alternative (2000). The transformative ones focus on structural change in a violent form, like radical political groups, or anticipate a ‘cataclysmic change’, including movements with religious roots. The reformative type aims ‘...at partial change to try to offset current injustices and inequalities’. It fosters positive change by removing such burdens, creating a ‘...more just social order and a more effective and viable polity’. Usually this type of movement, adopts a single issue as point of departure in their efforts at restructuring exclusive policies. The 2000 Jubilee focused on principle on reducing the external debt of poor countries; after a considerable success the strategy focused later on changing the world trade rules, targeting authorities from transnational organisations such as the WTO. Redemptive movements imply an internal individual change. This type is commonly approached through the New Religious Movements perspective.