ABSTRACT
This chapter contributes the emerging perspective and responds to Michael Burawoy's thesis in several ways. It shows what is conventionally defined as a social movement and assesses to what extent Burawoy's global analysis of contemporary social movements applies to the South African context. The chapter proposes an alternative conceptualisation of social movements that views them not as a particular organisational form, a perspective common in mainstream social movement theory, but as a praxis resulting from the material realities of everyday life. It provides an insight into the two types of movement identified by Burawoy, movements of unequal inclusion and movements of exclusion. The chapter examines some of the critical tensions that emerge from attempts to forge a 'sociology for society' that Burawoy advocates. A discussion of the role of intellectuals in movements is particularly pertinent to South Africa and has been the subject of recent debates drawing critical attention to dimensions of power, race and class.
