A movement cannot arise without a shared or developing system of ideas. Sufficient coherence among shared civilisation elements must develop to connect individuals and social circles durably and to direct interpretation, goals and conduct. The system of ideas need not yet be fully elaborated or formally recorded when the movement arises.
A movement may arise and develop organically without a single actor having designed it as a whole, but it may also be formed and organised purposively. In either case, its further development may be partly determined by processes that no single actor fully controls.
A movement need not itself constitute a single social circle or formal organisation. It may consist of individuals and of several social circles, organisations, media and institutions connected to different degrees by sufficiently shared civilisation elements and, possibly, by a developing system of ideas and narrative. The degree of mutual organisation, coordination and leadership may vary and change over time. A movement need not have a central leader; leadership functions may be distributed among several individuals and organisations and may shift over time. A central organisation or central leadership is therefore not a necessary condition for the existence of a movement.
When an organically arisen movement pursues political goals, has developed sufficient social cohesion and its elite is recognised within the movement as directive, purposive political action becomes necessary if those goals are to be achieved.
Because the individuals concerned do not have completely identical personal civilisations, the circles involved do not share completely identical circle civilisations, and the movement’s system of ideas and narrative may continually be interpreted and developed, different tendencies may arise within a movement regarding content, priorities, goals and courses of action. These differences may lead to internal factional struggle, organisational separation or the emergence of new movements.
Means and practices may arise or be employed within a movement through which civilisation elements are recorded, developed, interpreted, disseminated and transmitted. These may include accessible sources in which central ideas are recorded; persons who discuss, interpret and further develop these ideas, whether or not within social circles and organisations; means of communication and media; recurring meetings; recognisable concepts and symbols; rituals and other shared practices; forms of participation or membership; education and training; and organisations and institutions in which elements of the system of ideas are embedded in roles, rules, norms and expectations.
These means are not important because every movement should possess the same toolkit. Their theoretical significance lies in the functions they may perform. Together, they may repeatedly expose participants to the same or coherent civilisation elements, strengthen mutual recognition and connectedness, make sources of authority or reliability available, and render ideas recognisable and transmissible. Civilisation elements may thereby be internalised, strengthened and disseminated among larger numbers of individuals. Not every individual civilised by a movement need become a member of an organisation or social circle belonging to that movement.
Organisations and institutions with their own roles, powers and procedures may arise within a movement. An organisation may perform a particular function – for example, political representation, education, media, research, religion or interest representation – without the movement being reduced to that organisation. Moreover, the more an elite is recognised within the movement as directive, the greater the likelihood that activities and civilisation elements will be purposively institutionalised and thereby made enduring.
Social recognisability is also an important part of the development of a movement. As a movement becomes recognisable as a distinct phenomenon, a name, designation or other shared concept generally arises by which it and its adherents can be identified. Such a name may be chosen by participants themselves or derived from a founder, central ideas or symbols, but may also initially be used by outsiders or opponents. The designation enables individuals and social circles to recognise themselves and others as part of the same movement, to identify with it or to define themselves against it. Naming thereby contributes to demarcation, dissemination and social visibility and may itself come to play a part in the movement’s further formation.
Within a movement, civilisation elements may already be institutionalised before gaining broad social acceptance outside it. That institutionalisation may contribute to the civilising of new participants and to the further development of the movement’s system of ideas and narrative.
When civilisation elements developed and disseminated within a movement are also internalised by individuals outside its own associations, become sufficiently shared within other social circles and become socially operative, a broader process of civilising may arise that is no longer borne exclusively by the original movement. The social dissemination and operation of its civilisation elements may thereby accelerate and extend across several social circles and institutions.