Resource Mobilization Theory

           Now that we have established that the women’s movement is indeed a social movement, I want to discuss resource mobilization within the movement. Resource mobilization is important to any social movement. It’s easy to have an idea and to talk about that idea, but until you have the means to get your idea off the ground, it can be hard to take action. That’s where resource mobilization comes in.

            To better understand what exactly resource mobilization is, I turned to resource mobilization theory. This is a five-part theory, and I have listed it below:

• “The actions of social movement's members and participants are rational.
• A social movement's actions are strongly influenced by institutionalized power imbalances and conflicts of interest.
• These power imbalances and conflicts of interest are sufficient to generate grievances that lead to the mobilization of social movement's intent on changing the distribution of resources and organization.
• Centralized and formally structured social movements more effectively mobilize resources and achieve goals of change than decentralized and informal social movements.
•  The success of social movements is heavily influenced by group strategy and the political climate.”

This theory sounds a lot like what makes the components of a social movement, as discussed in my previous blog post. The website that I used to find this theory (which I have hyperlinked above) gives a good summary of resource mobilization that is much less overwhelming than the five bullet points: “The resource mobilization theory of social movements examines structural factors, including a group's available resources and the position of group members in socio-political networks, to analyze the character and success of social movements.” Essentially, in order for a social movement to be legitimate and successful, you need to have group members who are in a position to bring about change for your group. Nancy Jones from next door may have some wonderful ideas regarding the women’s movement, but she is not going to be able to get as much as attention as Nancy Pelosi will in Congress.

In the beginning of the women’s movement, there really were not a lot of available resources. Women were expected to essentially stay in the home, raise children, and do as her husband says. When women decided that they did not want that life anymore, there really were not many resources available to them other than solidarity with other like-minded women, along with a few progressive-minded men. At the beginning of the women’s movement in Seneca Falls, they were able to find help in the abolitionist movement. Frederick Douglass even spoke in favor of the right to vote for women at the convention.

Around 20 years after the convention, the National Women Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association were formed. More and more women came on board with the women’s movement, and it grew through strength in numbers. In the early 20^th century when the fight for the vote was really heating up, suffragettes marched through the streets of New York with a banner that read, “President Wilson favors votes for women”. While Wilson was still hesitant, the suffragettes used his name as resource mobilization. The people that saw their banner also saw that the leader of the free world supported the right to vote for women. This is an example of early resource mobilization.

  

 A modern example of resource mobilization comes from the very recent Women’s March on Washington. The organizers of this march arranged to have many prominent celebrity figures speak at the event. America has a fascination with celebrities, so their very presence at the event probably caused a good portion of people to pay attention. It is important to note that you do need to be careful with who is associating with your movement. There were many speakers who relayed positive messages like Scarlett Johansson, who said, “President Trump, I did not vote for you. That being said, I respect that you are our president-elect and I want to be able to support you. But first I ask that you support me, support my sister, support my mother support my best friend and all of our girlfriends…” However, some speakers caused trouble and brought a dark light on the movement (I’m looking at you, Madonna). She said, “Yes, I’m angry, yes, I’m outraged, yes I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House, but I know that this won’t change anything.” Organizers of movements have to be careful about who is representing their goals. It is important to have resource mobilization and have prominent figures represent your movement, but you have to make sure they are doing so in a respectable fashion.