Are the Social Movements Leading the Policies?

ARE THE SOCIAL MOVEMENTS LEADING THE POLICIES?

The development of the industry leads to the settlement of the welfare, the idea of increasing the capacity of production becomes in better conditions of work, economic stability and more rights (unions). Society fixed in the comfort of the welfare looks for other targets and is interested in deeping in social matters which provides them not only economic support but also quality of live.  Some politics decisions arise from the popular claim, a group of people interested in the same goal fights and push for it and as much as the movement expand it turns more relevant to reach a political success. The social movement is now a politic movement.

The society of the welfare has contributed also to create a social flow against the impacts of the welfare. The green movement is critic with the results of the industrial production and they fight to preserve the world from the exceeding’s of the welfare, but economy is stronger.

Nowadays social movements are very relevant, we are experiencing in Spain a clear situation of social movement turned into political movement, how a social movement born in the streets from the complaint for the lost of welfare is becoming in a new politic movement. Social movements are fighting to change the traditional politics. The welfare is settled in the traditional politics and the key point is what is going to happen in the near future, new landscapes where the economic establishment will have to fight with the modernity of the new political tendencies. We are living this situation in the town hall of Barcelona (Spain), a major coming out and elected by the social movements confronted to the welfare of a city based on the income of a cosmopolitan tradition. The social movement which leaded the new major to be elected trust now to achieve their expectations but what is going to happen? How it is possible to keep the break even between social politics and economic power? This is a challenge we will live in the coming years.

We have another example of social movement pushing in politics the case of Catalonia; the economic crisis combined with the politic situation has contributed to wake up a social complaint, which had been asleep for many years. It is well known that Catalonia has maintained their origins and their roots despite of the political relationship with Spain but the crisis and the deterioration of the social health welfare has raised the critics against politics. Again a strong social movement, l’Asamblea Catalana, shakes the government who most probably had not in their priorities the independency of Catalonia and it has been pushed to carry out several actions as a consequence of the popular demand.

The social movements are not only aiming to political targets, they are also carrying out an important task in helping handicap people contributing in the development of their skills by associations which provides them the means that the crises has reduced. Associations that take care of old people, homeless and children, all of them with only one goal: help the others. All these social movements are strong and consolidated and they have become and a firm pillar for the society to help all those that the crisis has taken out the welfare from their lives.