Comportamiento colectivo y movimientos sociales: Un reto para la Psicología Social

Abstract

The present exposition tries to condense the aspects dealt with in the textbook Collective Behavior and Social Movements. A Social-Psychological Approach (Javaloy, Rodriguez and Espelt, 2001) that can be more suggestive for the social psychologist. The book attempts to offer a global vision of collective behavior and social movements, task that had been undertaken previously within the framework of sociology but widely neglected by academic social psychology, specially in the Spanish language. The work keeps correspondence with the three parts in which the book is structured, our analysis focusing on the first part (scientific foundation of the field) and on the third one, referring to the social movements. Of the second part, only some social-psychological research on groups is mentioned that can be considered the most important contribution of experimental social psychology to the study of collective behavior and social movements. The social relevance of the field is also emphasized, trying to offer a reflection of the globalizing society in some of its more problematic aspects, such as ecological crisis, sexism, terrorism and social inequalities. © 2003 by Fundación Infancia y Aprendizaje.