A social movement is an organized, continuous collective action done by relatively powerless people with an aim to promote or enhance change in society. Social movements are inspired by material factors like political and economic factors or ideas that need to be implemented to bring change (Cooper, 2021). Several issues like racism, discrimination, political competition, and wars have brought social movements that have had an impact worldwide. These social movements mostly involve the minority who feel that their rights are being violated and that a certain change should happen. However, there is always an urge to include the dominant majority to consolidate more support and foster unity. The involvement of the dominant majority mostly results in conflict because of power dynamics, the risk of assimilation, and differing perspectives. This essay discusses the reasons for conflict emergence in minority social movements due to the involvement of the dominant majority, gives other people’s experiences, and my personal opinion on this issue.
The first reason for this conflict is because of the power imbalances brought by the involvement of the dominant majority. The dominant majority may overshadow the minority in the social movement. This overshadowing of the minority may also disadvantage the minority or the vulnerable by ignoring their issues, which led to the formation of the social movement (Cooper, 2021). Most social movements use democracy to choose their leaders or pass their agendas. The dominant majority may hold a key influential position in the movement since large numbers vote for them. This power imbalance brings conflict within the movement since the initial goals of the movement are diverted by the majority, disadvantaging the vulnerable or the minority.
The second reason is the differing perspectives. The dominant majority may not be suffering from the same issues the minority is suffering. Additionally, the dominant majority may also be more exposed or educated than the minority. These differences may make the majority have some difficulties understanding the problems facing the minority and the change being championed. This disparity in thought, exposure, and education between the minority and majority in the movement leads to conflict because of differing perspectives and priorities (Della Porta, 2020). This conflict renders the social movement ineffective since there is limited unity and trust between members from both sides.
The third reason this conflict can emerge is because of the risk of being assimilated. Some of the issues the minority social movements aim to solve disadvantage the majority. For example, minority social movements may seek to eliminate racial discrimination to allow people from all races, especially immigrants, to be given the same opportunities as the dominant people (Della Porta, 2020). The elimination of racial discrimination may also affect the employability of people from different races. This elimination may limit the job opportunities available for the dominant majority. In addition, people from different races may also interact with the dominant majority and even intermarry if the social movements achieve liberation. This freedom may pose a risk of assimilation of the dominant majority, who may be forced to copy or change according to the lifestyle of the immigrants.
Conflicts in social movements due to the involvement of the dominant majority have been experienced in various parts of the world. These conflicts have made some of these movements irrelevant or unproductive because of the diversion from the main agenda. A good example of a social movement that has suffered internal conflicts due to the involvement of the dominant majority in the feminist’ social movement. This movement involved white women who believed in the same agenda. However, there have been reports of white women sidelining the women of color in the movement (Mohajan, 2022). Women of color have been perceived and treated as unqualified to handle feminist issues. This discrimination has led to conflicts among members, which have made the movement less effective across the globe.
Another example of conflict in social movements due to the involvement of the dominant majority is the case of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement in the United States. The movement was formed after the brutal killing of George Floyd by police. George Floyd was a black American, and the brutal killing was connected to racial discrimination (Parker et al., 2020). This movement aimed to champion the rights of Black Americans. The movement strategically involved the whites, who are perceived as the majority, with an aim to consolidate more base support and make the movement more effective. However, the involvement of the whites has brought major conflicts in the movement. The whites have been accused of diverting the original agenda of the movement and pursuing other self-interest goals. The whites have also been accused of miscommunication with the blacks. The involvement of the dominant majority has led to the emergence of conflicts between blacks, who feel threatened, and whites, who feel safer in their country. The achievement of this movement has been tremendous but not as expected, even with the involvement of the dominant majority.
My opinion on the involvement of the dominant majority in the minority social movement is that this involvement is bound to cause some conflicts in the movements; hence, it should be avoided or guided by the movements’ social involvement guidelines. The main cause of conflict between these two groups is that the majority find it hard to understand the issues facing the minority since they are not affected by the same issues (Parker, 2020). Additionally, the majority do not prioritize the issues raised by the minority since they do not have experience with these issues. The majority is most likely to divert the real agenda of the movement to serve their self-interested goals. Besides, the majority may even end up endorsing the same issues that the movement is campaigning against. There should be a clear procedure of operation to guide all members and leaders of the movement and the code of conduct. The minority who initiated the movement should also install one of their own in various key strategic positions in the movement. This move will ensure that the minority remains in control of the movement despite the dominant majority joining.
In conclusion, a social movement is a collective action of change initiated by inflicted people. The main agenda of the social movement is to campaign for change. The conflicts observed in the movement due to the involvement of the dominant majority are because of the power imbalances, diverse perspectives, and the perceived risk of assimilation. The dominant majority feels threatened by the empowerment of the minority through social movements since most of the dominant majority will be assimilated into the minority’s way of thinking and living (Della Porta, 2020). Power imbalances are observed since the majority are more likely to overshadow the pressing issues of the minority. Diverse perspectives are observed because of the difference in education level, exposure, and experiences between the majority and minority groups. Several incidences of conflicts observed in famous movements should serve as a warning to avoid involving the dominant majority in a social movement with an aim to make it more effective. These incidences prove that this involvement leads to the misplacement of the movement’s goals and vision.
References
Cooper, C. (2021). Fat activism: A radical social movement. Intellect. https://intellectdiscover.com/content/books/9781910849309
Della Porta, D. (2020). Building bridges: Social movements and civil society in times of crisis. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 31(5), 938-948. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11266-020-00199-5
Mohajan, H. (2022). An Overview of the Feminism and Its Categories. https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/114625/
Parker, K., Horowitz, J. M., & Anderson, M. (2020). Amid protests, majorities across racial and ethnic groups express support for the Black Lives Matter movement. https://policycommons.net/artifacts/616390/amid-protests-majorities-across-racial-and-ethnic-groups-express-support-for-the-black-lives-matter-movement/1597028/
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