Social Movement Success through the Eyes of Experts

BY Janneke Drent and Ruud Wouters

When can a social movement be considered “successful”? Does a movement become a success when it is able to influence public opinion on an issue, or when it achieves previously established political goals such as policy change? Or is a movement’s success instead measured by its ability to sustainably mobilize a large crowd of highly motivated and engaged protesters, or by its knack for getting large-scale media coverage? And, if we are to agree on an example of a successful social movement, what factors could potentially facilitate its success? As part of a larger expert survey on social movements, 120 scholars specializing in social movement and protest research were asked to reflect on what they considered to be the most successful social movements of the last two decades (for the full report, see: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383896895_What_the_Experts_Say_StructureAgency_DisruptionModeration_and_Social_Movement_Success). They were given the opportunity to list any real-life movement regardless of size or issue, taking place either in their home country or a different national context they were well-acquainted with. Similarly, survey respondents were also encouraged to provide reasons as to why they considered certain movements to be particularly successful. They were also given the opportunity to list the factors they believed contributed to this level of success.

In total, these questions yielded 102 responses, divided among thirty-two different kinds of social movements and collective action groups. Examples ranged from feminist strikes to indigenous activism, and from large-scale peace movement demonstrations to disability rights protests. The results also included examples from a wide variety of national contexts, from the Spanish Movimiento 15-M to the 1 July protest in Hong Kong. Yet, simply turning our attention to the number of times a social movement was brought up, we see that four examples stood out. They were examples of LGBTQIA+ activism (17 mentions), climate justice/environmentalist action groups (15 mentions), white/Christian nationalism and radical right movements (14 mentions), and lastly Black Lives Matter protests (12 mentions). Although our expert panel contained a disproportionate number of American scholars (see full report), their influence is not equally visible amongst the different categories. For the categories on Black Lives Matter protests and radical right movements, hot topics in American society and politics, the majority of the answers came from the United States. When it comes to the category on climate action, however, none of the respondents were based in the United States.

The most frequently brought up type of a successful social movement can best be summarized with the umbrella term of “LGBTQIA+ activism”. Examples provided for this category included protests advocating for marriage equality and the organization of Pride parades. LGBTQIA+ activism, many experts wrote, has proven particularly effective in shifting public opinion, as well as resulting in policy changes such as the legalization of same-sex marriages. When reflecting on the reasons behind this success, however, survey respondents came to varying conclusions. Ben Kenward (Oxford Brookes University) noted for example that the movement has benefited from having “few vested economic interests that oppose it”, or that it has relied heavily on favorable media coverage. At the same time, one anonymous respondent wrote that the LGBTQIA+ movement has shifted public opinion not just because of its activism, but also because its members are a “part of every family”, meaning they are not “segregated from birth as are racial minorities who suffer from histories of redlining, racist oppression, racist stereotyping, macro- and micro-aggressions”. Nevertheless, several experts highlighted that the situation is still different for the transgender community. There, waves of “transphobia and backlash” still persist, as is also evident from the 2023 Bud Light boycott following the brand’s collaboration with a transgender influencer (https://hbr.org/2024/03/lessons-from-the-bud-light-boycott-one-year-later).  

The second most frequently mentioned group of successful movements was the climate justice/environmental movement, characterized by the rise in new action groups such as Fridays for Future or Extinction Rebellion. Here, the expert often praised the movement’s ability to mobilize large masses of people, capture public attention, and raise concerns about the urgency of climate policy change at a speed that is “unparalleled compared to other movements”. Some noted that climate movements have been able to network on the left side of politics and thus take many, albeit at times incremental, steps toward making policy progress. The increased visibility of the negative impact of climate change when it comes to natural disasters such as flooding and forest fires, has increased the movement’s salience on both the public and political agenda. At the same time, however, several experts pointed out the “very entrenched power of the fossil fuel industry” and also the rise of an “astute countermovement which has poured money into politics”. Certain media outlets, as Winnifred Louis (University of Queensland) argued, have also benefited from the use of disruptive action, as they have been able “cynically to exploit to delegitimize” the climate movement writ large.

The third category consisted of examples of white/Christian nationalism and radical right movements. This type of activism, the survey respondents argued, has been particularly effective in building alliances with political elites (or established political parties of their own), and has benefited from a recent upswing in populist protest (e.g., anti-vax or anti-woke) and ethnonationalist rhetoric. White nationalist or radical right activists, the expert panel noted, have achieved their goals in part because they have the political means to threaten local government, or because they have been willing to use violence to intimidate their adversaries. Similarly, the movement has benefited from the support of powerful allies who own “influential media outlets and social media platforms.”

Lastly, Black Lives Matter protests, specifically those taking place after the death of George Floyd in 2020, were commended for their ability to increase public awareness on topics such as ethnic profiling and police brutality. Here, the use of social media as a way of transmitting video evidence of police violence amongst a large number of media outlets and the broader public, has created a strong “moral shock” that has in turn mobilized a diverse crowd of protesters. Whilst the policy effects of Black Lives Matter activism were seen by some experts as “uneven,” its political impact is still evident as “lots of reform-minded officials were elected” following the protests. Additionally, one anonymous expert noted that where the movement has succeeded in the creation of a sense of “moral legitimacy”, sustaining activists’ commitment by their desire to do the right thing.

As the examples above show, social movement success can take many different forms. Although mass protests are a vital way for social movements to communicate shared grievances or objectives, how these messages are conveyed and to whom, is highly dependent on the movement itself. For some movements, the prime objective is to change legislation, for example in the case of the legalization of same-sex marriages. For others, what matters is a shift in public attitudes or the creation of powerful political and business allies. Or, as the case of Black Lives Matter shows us, sometimes what draws people to a movement is not merely the promise of policy change or reforms, but also the inter-movement process of creating a community of people striving to do the morally correct things. Success, then, can be a balance between internal factors, such as the personal development of activists, and external factors, such as public opinion changes and political reforms. Further research should therefore divert its attention to conditions and contingencies that shape not only social movements’ potential to be successful, but the very ways in which they (re)define what “success” means.