PSIR Power 50 – Day 26 Capsule: Social Movements + Practice Qs

Hello aspirants,

Today’s revision capsule of PSIR optional preparation covers Social Movements. There are one 20-markers, six 15-markers, and two six-markers from this topic in the last 12 years.

1. What is a Social Movement?

“Social” vs “Political”

• Rudolf Heberle – every movement has political fallout.
• Andre Gunder Frank & Marta Fuentes – social movements differ because they don’t chase state power.
• NY Times – they seek autonomy, not authority.

2. Three Broad Types

1. Transformative – change inner mindsets (e.g., Narayana Guru and Ezhava self-reform).
2. Reformist – piecemeal system tweaks (linguistic-state re-organisation 1950-60s; Right-to-Information).
3. Revolutionary – overturn relations, seize power (Bolshevik 1917; India’s Naxalite upsurge).

3. Tactics: Institutional vs Direct Action

• Institutional = petitions, votes, court cases (legal, “inside the rules”).
• Extra-constitutional / Direct Action (Rajni Kothari) = sit-ins, boycotts, gheraos, strikes aimed straight at the state’s will.

4. Five Moving Parts of Any Movement

1. Objective (short & long term).
2. Ideology (may pre-exist or grow during struggle).
3. Programme / Strategy.
4. Leadership (articulates ideas, plans action).
5. Organisation (loose to tight; central to decentral).

All five mutate as the campaign unfolds.

5. Old vs New Social Movements (Rajendra Singh; Cohen’s “self-limiting radicalism”)

6. India’s Ecological Currents

Ramachandra Guha – India shows “varieties of environmentalism”, mostly led by women & the poor.

Five Strands (Gadgil & Guha)

1. Crusading Gandhian – moral critique of modernity.
2. Ecological Marxist – roots crisis in unequal resource access.
3. Appropriate-Technology – demo small-scale alternatives.
4. Wilderness Enthusiasts – scientific & ethical plea for parks.
5. Scientific Conservationists – managerial efficiency.

Iconic Campaigns

• Chipko (1973, Garhwal) – tree-hugging, eco-feminist spark.
• Appiko (Karnataka twin).
• Silent Valley (Kerala; dam halted, 1985 NP).
• Narmada Bachao Andolan (1985-, large dams v/s displacement).
• Recent hashtags – #ClimateStrike, #SaveAarey, #SaveDehingPatkai, #RightToBreathe, #SaveSundarban.

Key Ideas

• Deep vs Shallow Ecology (Naess).
• Vandana Shiva – women & nature share non-exploitative bond.
• Bina Agarwal – warns against one-size romanticism; class/caste matter.
• “New Environmentalism” – blend of local knowledge, market tools, shifting facts (mentioned explanation).

7. Civil Liberties & Human-Rights Stream

Classic liberties (rule of law, movement, property, conscience, speech).

Movements’ timeline

• 19th c. press & equality petitions (Nilanjan Dutta).
• 1919 Rowlatt-Act protest → mass rights consciousness.
• ICLU 1936 – first formal watchdog.
• Post-1947 dispersed committees (CLC Bengal).
• Naxalite 1960s repression → APCLC 1974, APDR 1972, AFDR Punjab.
• Emergency 1975-77 – censorship & arrests; united civil-liberty front.
• Globalisation 1990s (Upendra Baxi “human-rights markets”) – NHRC 1993; Amnesty foot-print in India.

Judiciary as Sentinel

• Art 32 & 226 writs (habeas corpus etc.).
• Expanded rights via PILs: livelihood, speedy-trial, education, health, clean environment, privacy (Puttaswamy 2017).
• Digital-age risk: AI face-scan, Pegasus, “surveillance democracy”; flagged by Judge A.P. Shah Committee.

HRW World Report 2023 Highlights

• Clamp-down on NGOs/media.
• Positive: SC widened abortion rights; broader “family”; banned two-finger test.

8. Major Identity & Sectoral Movements
9. Women’s Waves (Gail Omvedt typology)

1. Reform (education, Sati ban).
2. Nationalist participation.
3. 1975-85 “autonomous” phase – Anti-Arrack, anti-dowry, anti-rape (Mathura 1972), #MeToo.

Issues today: girl-child, GBV, globalisation, caste–gender overlap (Neera Desai & Usha Thakkar on identity / ideology splits).

Eco-Feminism

• Chipko as precedent; Shiva vs Agarwal debate on gender-nature link.

1. LGBTQ+

• Struggle to scrap IPC 377; push for marriage equality; critics call it urban-elite but democratic equality demands inclusion.

1. Labour

• Bombay Mill Workers’ Assn (Lokhande 1890s) → AITUC 1920 → splits (NTUF, AIRTUC) → Bombay textile strike 1982 → post-1991 gig-economy unionism.
• Big federations: AITUC, INTUC, BMS, CITU, etc.

9. Social Movements & Democracy – Gains & Caveats

Positives

• Heighten political awareness (Huntington, Kothari).
• Widen participation; hold rulers to account.

Risks

• Counter-movements (anti-reservation, Hindutva mobilisations).
• Rajni Kothari – direct action only good if it enlarges freedom.
• Bipan Chandra on JP 1974: vague agenda + loose structure → paved way to Emergency.

Note:

“OBJECTIVE-IDEOLOGY-PROGRAMME-LEADERS-ORG” → keep checking all five whenever you analyse any Indian movement—old or new.

Scholars Index

 Bina Agarwal | Upendra Baxi | Bipan Chandra | Cohen | Nilanjan Dutta | Andre Gunder Frank | Marta Fuentes | Madhav Gadgil | Ramachandra Guha | Narayana Guru | Rudolf Heberle | Rajni Kothari | Doug McAdam | Arne Naess | Gail Omvedt | A.P. Shah | Vandana Shiva | Rajendra Singh

Practice Questions

Question 1. Women’s role in anti-arrack movement. [2024/10 m]

Question 2. Dr. Ambedkar’s clarion call, “Educate, Agitate and Organize”, strategizes the Dalit movement towards achieving civil liberty. Discuss. [2023/15 m]

Question 3. Discuss the role of environmental movements in shaping the environmental governance in India. [2024/20m]

📌 Model answers drop this evening on the Telegram channel: https://t.me/psirbyamitpratap – keep notifications on.

See you tomorrow on Day 27. Keep practicing!

—Amit Pratap Singh & Team

A quick note on submissions of copies and mentorship

• 2025 Mains writers: Cohort 1 of O-AWFG started on 12 June and ATS on 15 June. The above practice set will serve as your revision tool, just do not miss booking your mentorship sessions for personalised feedback especially for starting tests. Come with your evaluated test copies.
• 2026 Mains writers – keep uploading through your usual dashboard. Act on the feedback and improve consistently.
• Alternate between mini-tests (O-AWFG) and full mocks (ATS) has been designed to tackle speed, content depth, and structured revision—line-by-line evaluation pinpoints your weaknesses and errors. Follow your PSIR O-AWFG & ATS schedule and use the model answers to enrich your content, as rankers recommended based on their own success.