Ujjwal PriyankAIR 10 · CSE 2025 · 366 wordsTheir whole copy
Opening · a definition
The Resource Mobilization Theory (RMT), propounded by McCarthy and Zald, shifts the focus from collective grievances to the strategic use of resources and organisational structure in social movements. While it provides a structured framework for analysing social movements, its applicability to the Indian context is debated.
Body · points
Applicability in India
- Professionalisation of Movements: Many contemporary social movements in India, such as the Right to Information (RTI) campaign or the Anna Hazare movement, demonstrated high levels of organisational professionalisation, media management, and strategic resource deployment, fitting the RMT framework well.
- NGO-led Movements: With the rise of civil society organisations, many movements (e.g., environmental campaigns) rely on foreign funding, legal expertise, and professional networking, validating the RMT emphasis on external resources.
- Coalition building: Movements like the Farmers' Protest (2020-21) exhibited sophisticated organisational structures, logistics (langars, communication networks), and resource sharing across state boundaries.
Limitations and Critique
- Neglect of Ideology and Grievance: RMT assumes that grievances are always present and only the capacity to mobilise matters. However, Indian movements are often deeply rooted in historical, cultural, and identity-based grievances (e.g., Dalit movements, tribal movements) where ideology is the primary driver, not just resources.
- Focus on Elite Dynamics: RMT tends to focus on elite actors and organisations. In India, many grassroots, spontaneous movements emerge from subaltern sections where formal organisational structures are weak or absent (e.g., local protest movements).
- Cultural Context: Indian society is highly segmented by caste, region, and religion. RMT, being largely Western-centric, often fails to account for the role of social networks, kinship, and caste-based solidarity as pre-existing 'resources' that are not necessarily 'mobilised' in the formal sense but are inherent in the social fabric.
- Spontaneity: Movements like the Narmada Bachao Andolan, while having an organisation, often relied on the moral force of charismatic leadership and subaltern participation which transcends mere rational-choice resource calculation.
Conclusion
Close · a summary
RMT is a useful tool for understanding the 'how' of modern, formalised Indian social movements. However, it is insufficient to capture the 'why' and the 'who'. For a comprehensive understanding of Indian social movements, RMT must be complemented with perspectives that account for deep-seated cultural, ideological, and structural factors inherent in Indian society.