Abstract
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: STRATEGIES OF AGENTS OF INFLUENCE
The phenomenon of social movements is as old as human history. Such movements, whether in the pre-modern period or in the modern era, can be encountered for many religious, economic, social and political reasons. Many theories have been put forward to explain the causes and consequences of such a phenomenon, which can be considered as old as human history. The most well-known of these theories are the Resource Mobilisation Theory and the Political Process Theory. As with every theory, it is a debated issue that these two theories have strengths and weaknesses in explaining social movements. Especially in recent years, there have been attempts to explain the phenomenon of social movements in a way to cover both developed capitalist countries and undeveloped or developing countries. At the forefront of these attempts is the concept of agents of influence. Like every other concept, the concept of agents of influence has undergone many transformations from the Cold War period in which it emerged until today. In this study, the emergence of the concept of agents of influence and its transformation over time will be analysed and whether it can be an alternative to existing theories when used to explain the phenomenon of social movements will be examined.
Keywords
Agents of Influence, Political Process Theory, Resource Mobilization Theory, Social Movements.
