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Stage 4:  Decline 

Finally, the last stage in the social movement life cycle is decline, 

or “institutionalization.”  Decline does not necessarily mean fail-

ure for social movements though.  Instead, Miller (1999) argues, 

there are four ways in which social movements can decline:  

Repression, 

• 

Co-optation, 

• 

Success, and 

• 

Failure, 

• 

Others  have  added  establishment  with  mainstream  as  another 

way in which they decline (Macionis, 2001).     

 

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Four Stages of Social Movements

Essay by Jonathan Christiansen, M.A.

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