Paul Wilkinsongives the following working concept of ‘social movement’:A social movement is a deliberate collective endeavour to promote cTisirigelnanydirection and by any means, not excluding violence, illegality, revolution or withdrawalinto ‘utopian’ community. Social movements are thus clearly different from historicalmovements, tendencies or trends. It is important to note, however, that such tendenciesand trends, and the influence of the unconscious or irrational factors in human behaviour,may be of crucial importance in illuminating the problems of interpreting and explainingsocial movement.A social movement must evince a minimal degree of organization, though this mayrange from a loose, informal or partial level of organization to the highly institutionalizedand bureaucratized movement and the corporate grou

The term ‘social movement’ gained currency in European languages in the earlynineteenth century. This was the period of social upheaval.The political leaders and authors who used the term were concerned with theemancipation of exploited classes and the creation of a new society by changing valuesystems as well as institutions and/or property relationships. Their ideological orientationis reflected in their definition.