Citation

Cleveland JW. Crit. Sociol. 2003; 29(2): 163-188.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Dept. of Sociology, University of Oregon)

DOI

10.1163/156916303769155797

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The conventional wisdom that today's movements are led by a section of the `new middle class' is really the old functionalist theory of (post)modernizing elites that denies class analysis. The `young adult nucleus' thesis is proposed as an alternative theory. The leading social forces in movements in affluent countries are intellectual radicals and `advanced elements' from groups that experience some form of exploitation, oppression or collective hurt. They are Gramscian intellectuals as opposed to professional intellectuals. They are people who took the `opportunity during socialization' when young adults to choose what often became a lifelong `activist career' for social justice.