Final answer:
Social movements are organized groups that act continuously to promote or resist change in society. They can take various forms including reform, revolutionary, resistance, and alternative movements. Sociologists have identified a four-stage lifecycle for these movements, which includes their emergence, coalescence, institutionalization, and decline.
Step-by-step explanation:
Groups that act with continuity and organization to promote or resist change in society are known as social movements. Social movements serve as broad social alliances of individuals connected through their shared interest in either fostering or blocking social change. These movements can be driven by various catalysts and the reasons for individuals joining them are diverse.
Major social movements throughout history have influenced culture, society, government policies, and the economy. Various types of movements include reform movements aiming for change within the system, revolutionary movements pursuing drastic change, resistance movements working to prevent or reverse change, and alternative movements focusing on self-improvement and specific changes to individual beliefs and behavior.
Sociologists outline a four-stage process for social movements, which includes the preliminary stage, the coalescence stage, the institutionalization stage, and the decline stage. Larger organizations such as hospitals, schools, and governments may also form part of a social movement or influence its development, and have often been characterized by their bureaucratic nature, with an ongoing trend towards bureaucratization and standardization in local institutions.