Social Movements and Change Quiz

Grade 12 · Social Studies · Quiz

Test your understanding of how social movements form, organize, and pursue change — from historical movements to modern digital activism.

Questions

Which sociological theory argues that people join social movements when they feel deprived relative to a group they compare themselves to?
1. Resource mobilization theory
2. Relative deprivation theory
3. Structural strain theory
4. Political process theory
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Answer: Relative deprivation theory
Relative deprivation theory holds that people join social movements not simply because they are poor or oppressed in absolute terms, but because they feel deprived relative to some reference group. The civil rights movement surged partly because Black Americans' expectations rose (through education, TV, WWII service) faster than their actual conditions improved — creating a 'revolution of rising expectations.'
Labor unions were a central organizational force in the American labor movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
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Answer: True
Labor unions — from the Knights of Labor and the AFL to the CIO — were the organizational backbone of the American labor movement. They organized strikes, lobbied for legislation, and built political coalitions that won the 8-hour day, minimum wage, workplace safety laws, and the right to collective bargaining, codified in the National Labor Relations Act (1935).
The Montgomery Bus Boycott is an example of an ___ — refusing to buy or use a product or service as a form of protest.
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Answer: boycott
A boycott is a form of protest in which people refuse to buy or use a product or service to pressure the provider to change. The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56), the Delano Grape Boycott by the UFW (1965-70), and the many divestment campaigns against apartheid South Africa are classic examples of effective economic boycotts.
The #MeToo movement is best described as a:
1. Political party organizing campaign
2. Social movement addressing sexual harassment and assault, amplified through social media
3. Government policy initiative
4. Corporate diversity program
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Answer: Social movement addressing sexual harassment and assault, amplified through social media
The #MeToo movement — originally coined by Tarana Burke in 2006 to address sexual violence in marginalized communities — exploded globally in October 2017 when survivors of Harvey Weinstein's abuse spoke out. The hashtag was shared millions of times globally in days, prompting a reckoning across entertainment, media, politics, and other sectors.
Which of these tactics is an example of 'insider' political strategy (working within the system)?
1. A protest march
2. A general strike
3. Lobbying legislators and drafting legislation
4. Occupying a public space
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Answer: Lobbying legislators and drafting legislation
'Insider' tactics work within existing political institutions — lobbying, endorsing candidates, drafting model legislation, participating in regulatory proceedings. 'Outsider' tactics (marches, strikes, civil disobedience) apply external pressure. Successful movements typically use both: the civil rights movement combined street protests with legal challenges and congressional lobbying.
Social movements always achieve their goals once they achieve widespread public support.
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Answer: False
Widespread public support is necessary but not sufficient for movement success. Counter-movements, backlash, institutional resistance, elite defection, and changing political opportunity structures can all prevent movements with majority support from winning. Polls consistently showed majority support for gun control, voting rights, and paid family leave — yet legislative victories remained elusive for years or decades.
Greta Thunberg's school strike for climate, which sparked a global youth climate movement, began in ___.
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Answer: 2018
Greta Thunberg began her Skolstrejk för klimatet (school strike for climate) outside the Swedish parliament on August 20, 2018 — three weeks before Sweden's general election. Within months, it inspired a global movement: the 'Fridays for Future' student climate strikes, which in September 2019 drew an estimated 4 million participants in 161 countries — one of the largest global climate protests ever.
Which concept describes the process of a movement spreading beyond its original goals to connect with other justice causes?
1. Co-optation
2. Movement spillover
3. Resource depletion
4. Tactical escalation
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Answer: Movement spillover
Movement spillover describes the process by which the energy, tactics, and networks of one movement spread to and inspire related movements. The civil rights movement inspired the women's liberation movement, anti-war movement, and disability rights movement. The Black Lives Matter movement connected racial justice to policing, healthcare, and economic inequality.
Counter-movements — organized opposition to a social movement's goals — can significantly slow or reverse movement gains.
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Answer: True
Counter-movements — organized opposition to a movement's goals — are a normal feature of social change. The civil rights movement faced a massive white resistance counter-movement. The women's movement faced anti-feminist organizing. The gun control movement faces the NRA and gun rights organizations. Counter-movements can mobilize resources, influence elections, and win court cases that roll back earlier gains.
The labor movement's demand for an 8-hour workday, child labor laws, and workplace safety is an example of which type of change?
1. Cultural change only
2. Systemic political and economic reform
3. Religious reform
4. Electoral change
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Answer: Systemic political and economic reform
The labor movement's demands were fundamentally about restructuring economic power relations and government's role in protecting workers. Winning the 8-hour day (established by Ford in 1914, federal law in 1938), ending child labor (Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938), creating workplace safety regulations (OSHA, 1970), and establishing collective bargaining rights (NLRA, 1935) represent major systemic changes that transformed American economic life.

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