social movement

noun

1. a group of diffusely organized people or organizations striving toward a common goal relating to human society or social change, or the organized activities of such a group.

   The push for civil rights was a social movement that peaked in the 1950s and 1960s.

Word History and Origins

Origin of social movement¹

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

"We mobilized civil society, academia, the private sector, indigenous peoples, and social movements, making COP30 the COP with the second-highest participation in history."

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History teaches us that the battle for equal justice under the law is never really over — that it may take a long time before social movements can achieve their goals.

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While some of that reflects the natural increase of the African population, the most important African social movement in modern times has been the explosive growth of Christianity across the continent.

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“This is a social movement. When social movements govern, they tend to do the most extraordinary things.”

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Paz will face powerful unions and social movements that will likely protest cuts to fuel subsidies that cost the state about $3 billion a year.

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