This piece was extremely fascinating to me. Wuthnow takes the first half of this piece to discuss how an ideology becomes a major movement. He begins with “articulation” meaning that a group must define the parameters of their core beliefs…separating them from the mainstream practices that are popular during their time. This provides us with a definition of what the group stands for while also highlighting the distinct differences between the two groups. From there, the ideology must grow from the environment it has been placed in, aka the accepted culture of the time and the social environment of the time. From this, the ideology is then accepted by the main institution. For an idea to really take off, it has to eventually be accepted by most. Then, how this idea functions within the institution is how it is reflected upon.
Then, Wuthnow finally has enough context for the reader to finally make his argument. He claims that the Protestant Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the rise of Socialism all went through the above described steps to become successful social movements. He also argues that current social movements are shaped by the social environment of the time and vice versa. Then two then make selections on their beliefs, forms of rhetoric, productivity, etc. Wuthnow says that the developmental changes in politics shapes the overall view of how we see ourselves (past, present, and envisioning our future). The interwoven aspects of politics, economics, and social climates help push ideas like the Protestant Reformation transform into movements.
I liked that Wuthnow said that social changes take forever to occur and that they change ever so slightly over time. It made me think of court cases and how interpretations of the law are come to based off of the precedent(s) set by previous cases. However, I don’t think class structure was really discussed as much as it could have been. I know he says his argument is against the idea that class structure had much (if anything) to do with these movements, but I think it is important to think about a concept so big and revolutionary that can change the thinking of people across differing socio-economic statuses. I do agree that it may not have had as great of an impact on these movements, but I do think how it affects these movements is very important and should be acknowledged by scholars who are closely looking at these events.