Final answer:
A social movement is an organized collective activity that endeavors to either implement or resist substantial change within a society or group. These movements, which can be reformist, revolutionary, or resistance-based, undergo stages of development including emergence, coalescence, institutionalization, and decline.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term that refers to organized collective activities aimed at implementing or thwarting fundamental changes within a group or society is known as a social movement. Social movements are purposeful and organized groups striving to work towards a common social goal, such as advocating for policy reform, resistance to current social conditions, or promoting revolutionary actions to overhaul the political system.
Social movements can be of various types, including reform, revolutionary, religious/redemptive, alternative, and resistance movements. Each type has specific objectives and desired levels of change. For example, reform movements like MADD seek particular policy changes, while revolutionary movements aim to bring about a complete overhaul of the societal structure.
The lifecycle of social movements generally follows a four-stage process: preliminary stage, coalescence stage, institutionalization stage, and decline stage, which describes the evolution from emergence to potential obsolescence of a movement.