This paper will answer the following research question: how did the tactic of freedom songs used in the Civil Rights Movement support the relational approach to social movements in its argument that individuals mobilize due to their social relationships with others? There is a lack of theoretical research in the field of academia regarding the relationship of protest songs and social movements, and their influence on collective action. Protest songs are essentially symbolic compositions that describe an issue in society and often propose a specific goal that will ameliorate the issue (Stefani 54). Ron Eyerman suggests that one of the primary goals of protest songs is to engage participation through compassion and moral unity (447), which pertains
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I will first provide a brief outline of the political opportunities that allowed the movement to utilize nonviolent tactics in pursuit of social change. Then, I will argue that the nonviolent tactic of freedom songs allowed individuals to form a collective identity, a shared culture, and strong social relationships that encouraged their participation in the movement. Ultimately, these findings become significant in resolving the debate of whether individuals mobilize due to strong emotions or through rational decisions. The use of freedom songs in the Civil Rights Movement demonstrate that both these factors can play a role as suggested by the relational approach to social …show more content…
The theory also emphasizes that movements ultimately mobilize around culture since it is “not just something that movements have; it is something they do” (Roy 6). Likewise, a new culture emerged within the Civil Rights Movement with new rituals that emphasized on the notion of communal societies. During the Albany movement of 1961, Cheryl Boots describes a particular bodily movement that was eventually adopted nationwide with the performance of freedom songs where the activists’ “right hands hold the left hand of the person to their left and their left hands hold the right hand of the person to their right and their shoulders touch and their bodies sway. It becomes a great mass thing” (Boots 55). These rituals that were performed with freedom songs became rational practices that leaders encouraged in an effort to increase solidarity and
I will first provide a brief outline of the political opportunities that allowed the movement to utilize nonviolent tactics in pursuit of social change. Then, I will argue that the nonviolent tactic of freedom songs allowed individuals to form a collective identity, a shared culture, and strong social relationships that encouraged their participation in the movement. Ultimately, these findings become significant in resolving the debate of whether individuals mobilize due to strong emotions or through rational decisions. The use of freedom songs in the Civil Rights Movement demonstrate that both these factors can play a role as suggested by the relational approach to social …show more content…
The theory also emphasizes that movements ultimately mobilize around culture since it is “not just something that movements have; it is something they do” (Roy 6). Likewise, a new culture emerged within the Civil Rights Movement with new rituals that emphasized on the notion of communal societies. During the Albany movement of 1961, Cheryl Boots describes a particular bodily movement that was eventually adopted nationwide with the performance of freedom songs where the activists’ “right hands hold the left hand of the person to their left and their left hands hold the right hand of the person to their right and their shoulders touch and their bodies sway. It becomes a great mass thing” (Boots 55). These rituals that were performed with freedom songs became rational practices that leaders encouraged in an effort to increase solidarity and