Ishan BhatnagarAIR 5 · CSE 2025 · 323 wordsTheir whole copy
Opening · a definition
Robert K. Merton's typology of deviance provides a functionalist framework to understand how social structures can induce deviant behaviour by creating a disconnect between cultural goals and institutionalized means. His paradigm includes:
Body · points and prose
- Conformity: Acceptance of both goals and means.
- Innovation: Acceptance of goals but rejection of means.
- Ritualism: Rejection of goals but acceptance of means.
- Retreatism: Rejection of both goals and means.
- Rebellion: Rejection of both goals and means and substitution of new ones.
Climate activism, in this context, can be seen as a manifestation of rebellion against the current unsustainable global socio-economic order, while simultaneously creating new norms.
Climate Activism as Rebellion
Merton's rebellion occurs when individuals perceive the established social structure as blocking the achievement of legitimate societal goals—in this case, environmental sustainability and future survival. Climate activists like Extinction Rebellion or Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future reject the goal of endless consumption and growth (the current cultural mandate) and the means of slow, status-quo political negotiation.
By engaging in civil disobedience, they redefine these structures:
- Changing the Definition of Success: Activists are challenging the structural goal of GDP-based growth. They introduce a new 'goal' for global society: net-zero emissions and ecological balance.
- Redefining Acceptable Means: While traditional politics relies on electoral cycles and lobby-based change, activists use disruption (roadblocks, protests) as a new 'legitimate' means for urgent political pressure.
Redefining Normative Structures
- Shift in Institutional Norms: Institutions like international finance and national governments are beginning to integrate 'ESG' (Environmental, Social, and Governance) criteria, a direct result of the pressure created by climate-conscious movements.
- The New 'Deviance' becomes 'Normal': Behavior that was once considered 'radical' or 'deviant' (e.g., divesting from fossil fuels) is increasingly becoming the institutionalized expectation for global corporations.
Close · a summary
In conclusion, climate activism uses the 'rebellious' modality of Merton's framework to expose the internal contradictions of global capitalism, ultimately forcing a recalibration of normative structures toward ecological survival.