The aim of this course is to understand how actors and groups act collectively to challenge the status quo of strong political, social, economic and cultural systems that resist change. Social movements challenging such systems are diverse in their group identities, social positions, strategies of action, unique demands and tactics. To better understand social movements, we'll start with some basic questions in general: how do we approach social movements and the process of defining them? What tools do we need to analyze how gestures work? And how can we explain how and why some succeed while others fail?

The modern sociological study of social and political movements effectively begins with an attempt to explain the mass movements of the 1920s and 1930s, particularly the anti-democratic mass movements. Movements such as fascism and Nazism were viewed as pathological developments in democratic states, and attention was drawn to the social pathologies underlying the rise of such political pathologies. From these beginnings, a school of thought has also developed that sees social movements as products of displacement and stress caused by rapid social structural change. In 1968, one of the most important developments in this field, the global student youth movements deeply affected the world and opened a new era. In those days, not only traditional political authorities but also sociologists thought these movements were temporary. However, they soon saw that they were wrong. Again in this period, the famous 68 generation, who left their mark on the political history of our country, achieved an important social mobility, and various segments of the society, especially universities, became influential in the political arena. The new social movements, especially after the 1980 military coup, the women's movement also showed a very important development.