Solidarity and Schism: A Study on Bihar’s Backward Classes’ Movement

Abstract

Social movements play an important role in social transformation. In a social movement, a group of people come together to achieve certain goals which they cannot achieve individually. But who will come together and against whom, as well as the nature of the rules and resources the participants use in a movement are affected by the contour of the social structure. Social structure leaves a definite mark on the nature of solidarity and schism among the participants of a movement. Taking Bihar’s backward classes’ movement as a case study, this article partially supports Marx’s dictum that ‘men make history, but not the way they please…’