3 ms·
Casting all mass movements as essentially dysfunctional, as this piece does, only works for “bad” movements like those that produced Naziism in Germany or commu
by eduction 3y ago
Casting all mass movements as essentially dysfunctional, as this piece does, only works for “bad” movements like those that produced Naziism in Germany or communism as it was practiced in the USSR. Or perhaps prohibition of alcohol in the US in the early 20th century.
But the US Civil Rights Movement that ended official and systematized racial discrimination against minorities was also a mass movement. The labor movement that gave us the 8 hour workday and weekends was also a mass movement. Women’s suffrage, abolition of slavery, and US independence from Britain also came out of mass movements.
It’s silly to say that all these were manifestations of emotional dysfunction by participants.
- tootie 3y agoSome movements actually have an enemy.
- brutusborn 3y agoI think he would argue that those movements effectively ended when they achieved their goals. I don’t know the history well but I think you could look at the civil rights movement as ending due to progress, then restarting a long time those gains were made and frustration has rebuilt. I’ve heard a lot of talk from US political commentators about reparations and Black Lives Matter, but both groups seem to fit his definition of a mass movement without explicit goals.