ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes a conceptual scheme for analyzing the unintended outcomes of social movements. It draws from a different branch of historical analysis to examine the unintended effects of movements that looks, in particular, at William Sewell's eventful sociology. Arguments are based upon an empirical analysis of the earthquake victim's movement in Mexico City, which was instrumental in Mexico's political transition. Even though the movement had disaster relief as its immediate objective and was not explicitly concerned with either cultural or political change, it contributed to the democratic re-evaluation of citizenry and government in Mexico City. Building on the theoretical proposition and complementing it with Jeffrey Alexander's theory of the symbolic code of civil society, the author examines the 1985 earthquake victim's movement and its impact on the democratic re-evaluation of citizenry and government of Mexico City. The chapter proposes to analyze movement outcomes from an eventful perspective, and think of social movements as historical events.
