Moyer's 8 stages of successful social movements

Handout
Power and Social Change
,

Eight stages of successful social movements

by Bill Moyer

Stage 1: Normal times

A problem exists but it is not on anyone’s agenda and the public is unaware of it.

The Movement: Pitfalls

• Citizen and reformer roles. • Believing the system can change the problem.
• Use normal institutional channels and methods • Feeling powerless.
(lobby, vote, courts).
• Use or form conventional campaigning groups.
• Low expectations of success. Goals
• Demonstrations are small and rare and have • Build organisations, vision and strategy.
little power or support. • Document problems and powerholders’ roles.
• Become informed.

The Powerholders
• Maintain status quo and hide violations. Crisis (that ends this stage):
• “Official” policies appear to uphold society’s • Newly involved grassroots citizens realise that
values vs “operating” policies which violate the official powerholders and old campaigning
them. organisations do not have the power to create
• Aim to keep the issue out of the public’s mind change through the normal system. They
and off the agenda. realise they must confront the official
institutions themselves.

The public
• Unaware of the problem.
• Support the powerholders/ status quo.
• Less than 15% favour policy change.

Stage 2: Prove failure of normal institutions

A new wave of grassroots opposition begins which must prove that the official institutions/ channels
support the status quo and prevent change.

The Movement: Pitfalls

• Reformer/ citizen role. • Belief that change can happen through the use
• Use the official system to document that it of normal channels alone.
does not justify public trust or support widely • Feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness.
held values.
• Older campaigns and new grassroots citizens
groups work together. Goals
• New grassroots groups and national networks • Prove and document the failure of official
begin to grow. institutions and powerholders to uphold the
public trust.
• Begin legal cases to establish legal and moral
The Powerholders basis for opposition (might win some of these
• Aim to keep the issue off the social and later).
political agendas. • Build opposition organisations, leadership,
• Maintain routine bureaucratic functioning to expertise.
stifle opposition.

Crisis
The public • Grassroots activists realise that the
• Still unaware of the problem. powerholders and normal public institutions
• Supports the status quo and official policies. violate the public trust and that extra-
• Less than 20% want policy change. parliamentary political action is needed to
create change.

Turning the Tide is a programme of Quaker Peace and Social Witness. 1

Moyer's 8 stages of successful social movements
Handout
Power and Social Change
,
Stage 3: Ripening conditions
Perceived or real worsening conditions, and/or new evidence of the severity of the problem. There is
rising grassroots discontent with conditions, the institutions, powerholders and older campaigns.
Upsetting events happen, including ones that encapsulate the problem.

The Movement: Pitfalls

• Reformer, citizen and rebel roles. • Sense of hopelessness and powerlessness.
• Grassroots groups grow in number and size. • Lack of strategic vision.
• Travelling organisers inspire opposition.
• Small nonviolent actions start
• Some of the progressive community is won Goals
over. • Educate/ win over the progressive community.
• Pre-existing mass-based networks and groups • Prepare grassroots for new movement
join the cause. • More local/ small scale actions.

The Powerholders Crisis

• Still feel secure and tout policies. • Grassroots grow upset and frustrated with the
• Still control institutional channels and decision- problem and the normal system. This grows to
making. bursting point, waiting for an event to trigger
the next stage.

The public
• Still unaware of the problem.
• Supports powerholders and status quo.
• But up to 30% oppose present policies.

Stage 4: Take off

A trigger event puts a spotlight on a problem that violates widely held values, sparking public attention
and upset. It precipitates massive nonviolent actions and a new grassroots-based social movement.
The issue is put on society’s agenda of hotly contested issues in a crisis atmosphere.

The Movement: Pitfalls

• Effective rebel role. • Unrealistic expectation of quick victory.
• Enact or respond to the trigger event. • Burnout from round-the-clock effort.
• Big national rallies/ demos and hundreds of • Ideology of no structure/ everyone decides
local nonviolent/ civil disobedience actions. everything/ emerging negative rebel.
• A new movement is launched by direct actions. • See issue isolated from other issues.
• A new organisation is created as a vehicle for
the movement.
• Informal organisation style. Goals
• Energy and hope for quick changes. • Put issue on society’s agenda.
• Older campaigns sometimes oppose rebel • Create a new grassroots movement.
activities. • Alert, educate and win public opinion.
• Legitimise movement by emphasising and
upholding widely held values.
The Powerholders
• Shocked by new opposition and publicity.
• Fail to keep the issue off society’s agenda. Crisis
• Reassert official line. • Take-off stage lasts less than two years.
• Discredit opposition. Activists see limits of protest. Many move on to
positive change process, become despairing,
and move to Stage 5.
The public
• Becomes highly aware of the problem.
• 40-60% oppose current policies.

Turning the Tide is a programme of Quaker Peace and Social Witness. 2

Moyer's 8 stages of successful social movements
Handout
Power and Social Change
,
Stage 5: Perception of failure
The movement progresses to Stage 6, but many activists don’t see this progress and believe their
movement has failed. Numbers are down at demonstrations, there is less media coverage, and long-
range goals are not met.

The Movement: Pitfalls

• Negative rebel and naïve citizen roles. • Unable to see movement’s success.
• Unrealistic hope of quick success is unmet; • Activist burnout and exhaustion.
many activists despair, burn out and drop out. • Rambo-style actions of anger and violence.
• Stuck in protest mode, act on anger and • Become a permanent counter-culture sect that
despair. is isolated and ineffective.
• Try to be more militant.
Goals
• Recognise movement progress and success.
The Powerholders • Recognise that the movement is in Stage 6
• Official line is ‘the movement has failed’. and choose an appropriate role.
• Discredit movement by highlighting and • Counter negative rebel tendencies.
encouraging ‘negative rebel’ activities,
including agents provocateurs.
Crisis
Ends when activists see movement progress and
The public join Stage 6; or join the take-off stage of a new
• Alienated by movement’s negative rebels. movement or sub-movement.
• Fear and distrust negative rebel actions; many
ordinary people drop out or don’t join.

Stage 6: Majority public opinion

The movement transforms from protest in crisis to long-term struggle with powerholders to win public
majority to oppose current policies and consider positive alternatives. The movement’s position is
increasingly adopted by mainstream society.

The Movement: Pitfalls

• Social change agent role. • National organisations and staff dominate
• Broaden analysis, pluralism, form coalitions. movement and undercut grassroots.
• Many new groups, including mainstream, • Reformers compromise too much.
involved and doing much grassroots education. • Belief that the movement is failing
• Use normal channels, eg voting – some
success.
• Nonviolent actions at key times and places. Goals
• ‘Citizen involvement’ programmes, eg citizen • Keep issue on the agenda.
diplomacy and fair trade/ nuclear-free/ local • Win over and involve majority of public.
agenda 21 towns. • Activists become committed to the long haul.
• Many sub-goals and campaigns.

The Powerholders Crisis

• Try to discredit and disrupt movement. • There is a consensus for changing policies.
• Demonology – create public fear of • The powerholders seek alternatives.
alternatives.
• Promote new strategies and programmes.
• Promote bogus reforms and peace processes.
• Create crisis events to scare public.
• Become more split.

The public
• Increasingly favour alternatives.
• Backlash and counter-movements.
• Increasing majority (60-75%) against current
policies, but many fear alternatives.

Turning the Tide is a programme of Quaker Peace and Social Witness. 3

Moyer's 8 stages of successful social movements
Handout
Power and Social Change
,
Stage 7: Achieving alternatives
This is a long process, not an event. The struggle shifts from opposing present policies to choice of
alternatives to adopt. there is massive public passion for change, and it is more costly for the
powerholders to continue old policies than to adopt new ones. More ‘re-trigger’ events occur.

The Movement: Pitfalls

• Change agent and reformer roles. • Compromise too much, too soon.
• Wage a successful end-game process; broad- • Achieve minor reform, not social change.
base opposition demands change. • Activists dismayed because they do not
• Counter powerholders bogus alternatives. recognise successes and powerholders claim
• Nonviolent action, when appropriate. movement victories as their own.
• Promote alternatives and a paradigm shift. • End game process is often invisible.

The Powerholders Goals

• Intransigent central powerholderes become • Movement achieves a major goal.
isolated as most of them change. • Movement achieves major goals within the
• Central powerholders try last gambits, then framework of the paradigm shift.
have to a) change policies themselves, b) have • Recognise movement’s success.
their policies defeated by a vote, or c) lose • Create on-going empowered activists and
office. organisations to achieve other goals/

The public Crisis

• Public majority demands for change are bigger • Movement wins key goal by a) dramatic
than its fears of the alternatives. showdown, b) powerholders change policies,
• Majority no longer believes powerholders’ or c) long term attrition.
justifications and demonology for old policies.

Stage 8: Continuation
The movement needs to protect and extend successes that were achieved, and switches its focus to
other sub-goals or movements. Its long-term focus is to achieve a paradigm shift.

The Movement: Pitfalls

• Reformer role. • Win only minor reforms.
• Follow up efforts to protect and expand • Fail at watchdog or follow-up activities.
successes. • People stop being activists.
• Minimise losses due to backlash.
• Circle back to other sub-goals and new issues
in earlier stages Goals
• Retain and extend successes.
The Powerholders • Continue the struggle by promoting other
• Adapt to new policies and conditions. issues and a paradigm shift.
• Claim movement’s success as their own. • Recognise and celebrate success.
• Try to roll back movement successes by not • Build on-going grassroots organisations and
carrying out agreements or new legislation, power bases.
work for new counter-legislation, or continue
old policies in secret.
Crisis
The public • While many activists move on to other issues
• Adopts new consensus and status quo. and goals, Stage-8 follow-up continues
• New public beliefs and expectations are indefinitely. The impact of this movement on
carried over to future situations, eg the society is on-going and greater than the
Vietnam syndrome. achievement of the specific goal.

Turning the Tide is a programme of Quaker Peace and Social Witness. 4