Understanding Social Movements

What I ultimately collected from the two readings by Joel Beinin and Joe Stork was the importance of learning about social movements and social movement theories. The message that the two articles give is robust and understanding the social circumstances of different countries is vivid. Something that normally catches my attention when it comes to these social operations is the wear and tear that the citizens of a nation have to go through in order to make progress. Before I began reading these pieces, I expected to expand my knowledge on social movements in the Middle East. Of course, these articles had fantastic details on different countries and their justice movements. What I enjoyed most was reading about how these Arabic figures used their intelligence in literature and philosophy to create movements and push them forward. Also, learning about the preparations of these intense revolutions and internal conflicts between different rights leaders made for a good reading experience. One thing I’m curious about (from Joel Beinin and Frederic Vairel’s reading) is how do citizens safely advertise their thoughts and opinions against the government/military? Thinking about such a question reminds me how lucky I am to have the ability to voice my opinion through social media. However, the true spotlight I believe, is in the impact that is created by the people involved in these movements. “The element of surprise and the end of political apathy of large sectors of the population have embodied and set in motion dynamics of political change, varying from one country to another.” The article conclusively explains that the hasty spread of violence is absolutely unacceptable and therefore, people should understand the dynamics of what people are going through across the world. There are multiple countries with citizens going through hardship and understanding their social conditions is important because they need help and one day, what is happening over there could eventually hit the U.S.