Cults and Terrorism: Examining Social Movements and Their Dynamics

This report provides an analysis of cults and terrorism, focusing on the conceptual framework of social movements. It begins by exploring the role of societal discontent and the need for awareness among individuals. The report then examines the process of organizing a social movement, highlighting the importance of leadership, planning, and communication. The analysis emphasizes the significance of these factors in the success of social movements. The report also includes a discussion of relevant literature, referencing key works by scholars such as John and Mayer, Della Porta and Diani, and Oberschall. The provided references offer insights into resource mobilization, social movement dynamics, and the interplay of ideologies, interests, and identities within these movements.

Running head: CULT AND TERRORISM
CULT AND TERRORISM
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Society
Individual
Discontent with
present scenario
Spreading mass
awareness
Organization of Social
Movement
Social Movement
Conceptual Framework
Discussion of the Conceptual Framework
The above given conceptual framework clearly indicates that the different kinds
of social movements primarily stem from the discontent with the present scenario or for
that matter the present condition of the society. John and Mayer (2017) are of the
viewpoint that the individuals within any societal framework have certain basic needs or
expectations like the desire to be treated with equality, dignity, have a certain amount of
liberty to do the things that they want without hindering or affecting the lifestyle of the
other individuals, have adequate employment, economic, education and other kinds of
opportunities. Furthermore, when these basic expectations or for that matter the desires
of the individuals are not being fulfilled they start to become discontent with the existing

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condition (Oberschall, 2017). This in turn influences the individuals to spread awareness
regarding the same among the people who are either facing the same or likely to face
the same in the near future. This is important since it is not possible for a single
individual to change the entire social framework however an individual has the
opportunity to bring to the fore the issues with the present societal structure and thereby
gather mass support for the organization of the social movement for addressing the
same issue (Della Porta & Diani, 2020). However, at the same time it needs to be said
that merely having an idea about the faults or the flaws of the existing social structure is
not enough, adequate information or awareness regarding the same needs to be
cascaded to the other members of the society as well so as to gather the required
support from them. The next stage is perhaps the most important stage which in turn
determines the effectiveness as well as the success of the social movements, that is,
the planning as well as the organization of the social movement. In this particular stage,
the group of individuals feeling discontented with the existing social structure needs to
select a leader through consensus and thereby organize the different stages or for that
matter the steps of the same (Calderón, Piscitelli & Reyna, 2018). For instance,
adequate amount of planning needs to be done and the same information needs to be
cascaded to all individuals involved in the movement to ensure the fact that the
protesters are acting as per the plan that had been formulated for the movement. These
in short are some of the most important aspects which need to be taken into account for
the organization of successful social movements.

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References
Calderón, F., Piscitelli, A., & Reyna, J. L. (2018). Social movements: actors, theories,
expectations. In The making of social movements in Latin America (pp. 19-36).
Routledge.
Della Porta, D., & Diani, M. (2020). Social movements: An introduction. John Wiley &
Sons.
John, D. M., & Mayer, N. Z. (2017). Resource mobilization and social movements: A
partial theory. In Social movements in an organizational society (pp. 15-42).
Routledge.
Oberschall, A. (2017). Social movements: ideologies, interest, and identities. Routledge.