INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY-SOC 101

SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION

Black Lives Matter Movement

In 2012 Trayvon Martin, a seventeen-year-old African American was shot in Sanford, Florida, while his shooting did not seem to have a mass impact at the moment, in 2013. On the thirteenth of July this year, George Zimmerman was acquitted of this killing and this acquittal almost by accident started an entire movement (Clayton, 2018). The Black Lives Matter Movement began almost accidentally when individuals such as Alicia Garza expressed their reactions to the acquittal on social media and employed the slogan Black Lives Matter (Tillery, 2019). The prevalence of the movement drove media platforms to apply the slogan as a representation of the struggle at large and the slogan grew from a hashtag to a network that currently includes more than thirty chapters inside and outside New York (Altman 2015).

The movement requires no legal entity in establishing chapters as getting charted requires members to simply uphold certain principles. It emulates strategies applied by the civil rights movement in the 1960s (Clayton, 2018) and engages in nonviolent direct action to shed light on police brutality and abuse exerted on African Americans. As a strategy, the movement occupies public spaces and its actions are intensified by social media. Additionally, its growth has been amplified by its lack of centrality, to avoid the misuse of power by centralizing it in one place.

This observable decentralization and loose structure has encouraged the uprising of individual local groups with the motivation to establish their own civil rights agenda. For instance, in Chicago, the movement worked to expose a local police officer who had misrepresented the proceedings detailing the shooting of Laquan McDonald a local teenager (Altman 2015). In other places like the Bay Area, the local branch of Black Lives Matter is used by its members to campaign against low minimum wages. This significantly differs from the group in Washington which employs the movement to campaign against housing gentrification. This decentralization has been detrimental to its growth, turning it into a national movement that focuses on local agendas. 

Effect on Society and Personal Life

The Black Lives Matter movement has significantly affected the lives of young people, especially those from African American communities and other minority communities. This movement has provided a platform for young people to express opinions on civil rights and advocate for social justice. Its use of social media has been advantageous to a generation that has fully embraced the use of the internet and social media platforms. Additionally, its decentralization and diversity of issues have given young people in various places the liberty to communicate about issues they are passionate about or concerned with. Further, the movement has sparked conversations about race, privilege, and systematic racism among young people. This has resulted in increased awareness of those issues and increased the desire to learn more about them. Finally, the Black Lives Movement has encouraged young people to become more politically engaged. This has led to young people becoming more involved in political activities such as advocacy campaigns, voter registration drives, and other efforts to promote racial justice through the political process.

As an individual, the movement has encouraged me to explore the issues of identity and heritage which has led to a greater appreciation of African American culture and history. This has had a profound impact on me as it has opened my eyes to the systemic racism and injustices that exist in our society. It has also inspired me to become more actively involved in advocating for racial justice and equality. Further, the movement has sparked important conversations within my community and circle of friends about the nature of privilege and discrimination and what we are able to do as individuals to create a more just and inclusive society. Had the movement not happened perhaps I might never have been aware of the deep-rooted issues of racism in our society and I might never have felt as empowered to speak out against injustice. The Black Lives Matter Movement has motivated me to take action to bring about positive change.

Conflict Theory

Theories include related concepts that can be used to predict, explain, or describe how society works. They provide lenses that can be used to observe society and understand why the people in it do the things they do (Hammond & Cheney, 2020). For instance, the conflict theory is a macro theory that can not only be used in observing society but also social issues from a global perspective. This theory was founded by Karl Marx as an attempt to cement his argument against capitalism. He established it by observing how the society’s elites treated less privileged members, specifically, the poor. The theory was later refined by Max Weber to take a more moderate position on the issue of capitalism and the balance of power between the “haves” and the “have-nots” of society. 

The theory is centered on the ideology that society comprises different members who are continuously competing for limited resources. It approaches society as divided into those who have and those who have not. Those who have are also constantly trying to increase what they have using the limited resources at the expense of those who do not. This brings about the concept of power as the ability of a person to get what they want at the present moment and ultimately the difference between the “haves” and the “have-nots”. Power has the ability to be developed into institutions where it then becomes authority.  This institutionalization legitimizes power and gives it the ability to embed concepts, behaviors, or social norms within organizations, societies, or social systems and they become established norms. In society, the bourgeoisie as coined by Karl Max are the individuals with the authority and power that is the political and corporate leaders or the royal and wealthy. On the other hand, the proletariat is the “have-nots”, those without power and authority that are the poor and minority in society, the lower class, and the common working class.

Black Lives Matter Movement and the Conflict Theory

The Black Lives Matter Movement can be observed through the lenses of the conflict theory as this theory focuses on the idea that society is composed of individual groups competing for scarce resources and emphasizes the role of power, coercion, and conflicts in shaping social structures. The conflict theory is principally applicable in the context of the Black Lives Matter Movement as it is a movement that highlights the systemic racism and inequities that exist in society, especially regarding access to resources, opportunities, and fair treatment by institutions like the police and criminal justice system. For instance in 2015, Black Lives Matter protestors disrupted political campaigns to confront politicians such as presidential front runners about matters concerning race and justice (Altman, 2015).  These confrontations resulted in tangible changes in the system. For instance, the then-presidential candidate Clinton began a criminal justice platform that included ideas from the black lives matter movement.

The Black Lives Matter Movement can be observed as a response to these power dynamics and a push for change to address the racial disparities and injustices that result from them. Conflict theory focuses on how power and authority is distributed unequally in society and how those with power use it to maintain their dominance. From the perspective of the Black Lives Matter Movement, power is wielded by institutions such as the police and government to perpetuate racial inequalities and maintain the status quo. For instance, the movement started after the acquittal of George Zimmerman (Clayton, 2018, Tillery, 2019) which can be seen as the institution’s means of maintaining the status quo of established norms. Conflict theory also notes the role of conflict in driving social change. As Karl Max noted, the bourgeoisie and the proletariats cannot both their way, and the proletariats have to rise up and revolt so as to challenge the power of their oppressors (Hammond & Cheney, 2020). The activism, protests, and advocacy efforts from a sociological perspective can be observed as challenging existing power structures and institutions to bring about change in policies, practices, and attitudes related to race.

References

Altman, A. (2015). Time Person of the Year 2015 runner-up: Black Lives Matter. Time. https://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2015-runner-up-black-lives-matter/

Clayton, D. M. (2018). Black Lives Matter and the civil rights movement: A comparative analysis of two social movements in the United States. Journal of Black Studies, 49(5), 448-480.

Hammond, R., & Cheney, P. (2020). Chapter 1: Introduction to Sociological Studies. In Intimate Relationships and Families Sociology 103 v.2 (pp. 7–12). essay. Tillery, A. B. (2019). What kind of movement is Black Lives Matter? The view from Twitter. Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Pol