ABSTRACT
‘New social movements’ have been a topic of interest both politically and sociologically since the 1960s. The term has been applied to a wide range of groups including those concerned with environmental issues, the women’s movement in various forms, political groups which have been described as terrorists because of the methods they use to publicize their aims, and to groups like self-help groups whose aims are often thought of as personal. Although there is a wide variation in the aims, values and methods of those groups which are, from time to time, described as new social movements, sociologists have found it useful to use this generic label before attempting to look at differences between the groups. They have been described in a number of ways.
