I need help finding good sources on Social Movement Theory, without centering on a specific movement?

[rose724]

I'm looking for some articles on Social Movement Theory, specifically how and why social problems transform into social movements and why citizens utilize this form of communication. I feel like I've googled every possible combination of words I can think of and I keep coming up with results that are focused on a specific movement, when I want to find info on why and how people decided to use this form of communication. Please! Any help pointing me in a direction would be really(!)appreciated!

[Poppy]

James Chowning Davies (born 1918) Quote:
"Revolutions are most likely to occur when a prolonged period of objective economic and social expectations is followed by a short period of sharp reversal. People then subjectively fear that ground gained with great effort will be quite lost; their mood becomes revolutionary. The evidence from Dorr's Rebellion, the Russian Revolution, and the Egyptian Revolution supports this notion; tentatively, so do data on other civil disturbances. Various statistics—as on rural uprisings, industrial strikes, unemployment, and cost of living—may serve as crude indexes of popular mood. More useful, though less easy to obtain, are direct questions in cross-sectional interviews. The goal of predicting revolution is conceived but not yet born or matured."

The question of why citizens choose to use this form of communication is more a study of collective unconscious (Rousseau) and the spontaneity of grassroots thinking. Communications through popular media gather momentum through peoples dissatisfaction with the status quo.

Individuals are rational actors who strategically weigh the costs and benefits of alternative courses of action and choose that course of action which is most likely to maximize their utility. The primary research problem from this perspective is the collective action dilemma, or why rational individuals would choose to join in collective action if they benefit from its acquisition even if they do not participate.