Social Movements in Modern India

Social movements are change-orientated political formations, often using tactics such as direct action, with loose and informal organizational structures. They are organized around ideas which give the individuals who adhere to the movement new forms of social and political identity. The success of the feminist movement thus does not depend just on various forms of political action, but also on the way in which the ideas associated with the movement led women, and ultimately men, to rethink hitherto accepted and largely unchallenged notions about the roles of women in society.