Revitalization movement explained

In 1956, Anthony F. C. Wallace published a paper called "Revitalization Movements"[1] to describe how cultures change themselves. A revitalization movement is a "deliberate, organized, conscious effort by members of a society to construct a more satisfying culture" (p. 265), and Wallace describes at length the processes by which a revitalization movement takes place.

Overview

Wallace' model 1956 describes the process of a revitalization movement. It is derived from studies of a Native American religious movement, The Code of Handsome Lake, which may have led to the formation of the Longhouse Religion.

Wallace derived his theory from studies of so-called primitive peoples (preliterate and homogeneous), with particular attention to the Iroquois revitalization movement led by Seneca religious leader and prophet Handsome Lake (1735-1815). Wallace believed that his revitalization model applies to movements as broad and complex as the rise of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, or Wesleyan Methodism.

Revitalizaton is a part of social movements.

Scholars such as Vittorio Lanternari (1963) and Peter Worsley (1968) have developed and adapted Wallace's insights.

See also

a famous Native American revitalization movement

a controversially named reference to revitalization movements in the USA.

Notes

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20121004221923/https://www.sjsu.edu/people/mira.amiras/courses/c10/s2/AFC_Wallace_RevitalizationMvt.pdf Wallace, Anthony F.C. 1956. "Revitalization Movements"

References