Framework • Social movement theory
The IMPACTS Framework
History is not background. It is instruction. These seven fields of inquiry are the lenses through which that story comes into focus.
Overview
The IMPACTS Framework is a theoretical lens for studying movements not as isolated events but as living chapters in an unbroken story of human struggle, creativity, and transformation. It is also a guide for understanding how that history must inform how we respond today.
Seven fields of inquiry
Origins and causes
Examining why and how social movements emerge, including the social, political, and economic conditions that give rise to collective action, and the motivations and grievances of participants.
Movement dynamics
Studying the structure and organization of movements, strategies and tactics, leadership roles, and processes of decision making within movements.
Participant mobilization
Investigating how movements recruit and mobilize participants, including the role of social networks, communication strategies, and resources.
Impact and outcomes
Assessing the effects of social movements on society, policy, and culture, as well as on the participants themselves. Evaluating whether movements have achieved their goals, brought about social or political change, or influenced public opinion or policy.
Movement repression and opposition
Studying the forces that challenge or attempt to suppress social movements, such as state authorities, countermovements, and public opinion.
Global and transnational movements
Focusing on movements that cross national boundaries, involve international networks of activists, or engage with global institutions, given the increasingly global nature of many contemporary issues.
Cultural and symbolic aspects
Investigating the role of culture, symbols, and narratives in movements, including how movements create collective identities, frame issues, and use symbolic actions or cultural performances to convey their messages.
Scope of study: the movements
Social, political, artistic, intellectual, and cultural movements, from the ancient world to the present.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”Martin Luther King Jr.
| Movement | Period |
|---|---|
| Agricultural Revolution | Ancient |
| Axial Age | Ancient |
| Classical Antiquity | Ancient |
| Renaissance | 14th to 17th century |
| Reformation | 16th century |
| Scientific Revolution | 16th to 17th century |
| Enlightenment | 17th to 18th century |
| Industrial Revolution | 18th to 19th century |
| Romanticism | 18th to 19th century |
| Transcendentalism | 19th century |
| Abolitionism | 19th century |
| Women's Suffrage Movement | 19th to 20th century |
| Impressionism | 19th century |
| Modernism | Early 20th century |
| Existentialism | 20th century |
| Civil Rights Movement | 20th century |
| Feminist Movement | 20th century |
| Anti-Apartheid Movement | 20th century |
| Postmodernism | Late 20th century |
| Environmentalism | 20th century onward |
| LGBTQ+ Rights Movement | 20th century onward |
| Globalization | Late 20th century onward |
| Arab Spring | 2010 to 2012 |
| Occupy Wall Street | 2011 |
| Black Lives Matter | 2013 onward |
| #MeToo Movement | 2017 onward |
| Afrofuturism | Contemporary |
| Indigenous Rights Movement | Ongoing |
Three concepts
Movements do not exist in isolation. They are carried by people with distinct identities, channeled through institutions, and activated by vehicles that convert intention into action. These three concepts form the connective tissue of how change actually moves through a society.
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Impact vehicles
Impact vehicles are the mechanisms and strategies through which resources, efforts, and initiatives are channeled to achieve desired outcomes and drive positive change. Understanding these vehicles is essential to understanding how philanthropic and social sector energy gets converted into movement.
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Social institutions
Social institutions are the systems and organizations within a society that shape and govern social behavior, norms, and patterns of interaction. They are established to fulfill specific societal functions and serve as frameworks for organizing various aspects of social life. Movements must understand, engage, and often transform these institutions to create lasting change.
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Social identities
Social identities are the group memberships and affiliations that shape an individual's sense of self and influence their interactions with others and with systems of power. Centering social identities in research and evaluation means ensuring that the people closest to the problem are recognized not as data points but as full human beings whose lived experience is the foundation of any meaningful analysis.
For practitioners and organizers
This framework is a mirror. Hold your work up to it.
The IMPACTS Framework was founded in 2023 as a practical tool for the people doing the work. If you are an organizer, a practitioner, or someone building something in service of a movement, this framework is for you. It is designed to help you see what vehicles you are using, which institutions you are engaging, whose identities are centered, and what history your work is in conversation with. Where there are gaps, there is possibility.
Suggested citation
Akama-Makia, R. (2023). The IMPACTS Framework. rhonnarose.com/theimpactsframework
© Rhonna-Rose Akama-Makia. All rights reserved.