A reform movement is a kind of social movement that aims to make gradual change, or change in certain aspects of society, rather than rapid or fundamental changes. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements.
Reformists' ideas are often grounded in liberalism, although they may be rooted in socialist (specifically, Social democratic) or religious concepts. Some rely on personal transformation; others rely on small collectives, such as Mahatma Gandhi's spinning wheel and the self-sustaining village economy, as a mode of social change. Reactionary movements, which can arise against any of these, attempt to put things back the way they were before any successes the new reform movement(s) enjoyed, or to prevent any such successes.
Read more about Reform Movement: Great Britain/United Kingdom: Late 18th Century To Early 20th, United States: 1840s - 1930s, Mexico: La Reforma, 1850s, Ottoman Empire: 1840s-1870s, Republic of Turkey: 1920s-1930s
Famous quotes containing the words reform and/or movement:
“All reform aims, in some one particular, to let the soul have its way through us; in other words, to engage us to obey.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The preservation of life seems to be rather a slogan than a genuine goal of the anti-abortion forces; what they want is control. Control over behavior: power over women. Women in the anti-choice movement want to share in male power over women, and do so by denying their own womanhood, their own rights and responsibilities.”
—Ursula K. Le Guin (b. 1929)