Social movements for public education

In discussing the Occupy and Chilean student protests, I utilize the notion of social movement, as opposed to collective action. This is influenced by Anyon who argues that social movements and collective actions are theoretically separate and clarity is required, because ‘it is important to note that one organization, no matter how large, does not make a movement’ (195). A social movement involves ‘collective conflictual relations with clearly identified opponents’ (Della Porta and Diani, 2006: 20).1