Students

SOCI3050 – Activism and Social Change

2026 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Justine Lloyd
justine.lloyd@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
130cp at 1000 level or above
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

Social movements are an important presence in contemporary societies. How are they organised? Why do they emerge? What shapes their development? This unit provides a framework for answering these questions. It focuses on both the history of social activism, including campaigns like the suffragettes and civil rights movement through to the Arab Spring and climate campaigning; as well as prominent theories and concepts for understanding the rise and success of social movements. As part of the assessment students will examine a contemporary campaign, looking first-hand at how movements organise and evaluating their success. This unit also allows students to progress to a PACE unit where they have the opportunity to work in a placement with a social change organisation.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: identify the major theories developed to explain social movements
  • ULO2: evaluate strengths and weaknesses of dominant theories
  • ULO3: apply social movement theory to contemporary Australian and international movements
  • ULO4: analyse strategic and ethical problems that arise in the quest for political change
  • ULO5: reflect on practical realities of social movements through analysis of activities of social movements and social movement organisations
  • ULO6: design and execute primary research on a particular social movement campaign

General Assessment Information

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a mark of '0' (zero) will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical issue. This late penalty will apply to non-time sensitive assessment (incl. essays, reports, posters, portfolios, journals, recordings etc). Late submission of time sensitive tasks (such as tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, scheduled practical assessments/labs etc) will only be addressed by the unit convenor in a Special Consideration application. Special Consideration outcome may result in a new question or topic.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due Groupwork/Individual Short Extension AI assisted?
Campaign Analysis 40% No Week 13: Sunday 7/06/26 Individual No Open AI
Reading Reflection 25% No Week 4: Sunday 22/03/26 Individual No Open AI
Campaign Analysis Outline 35% No Week 6: 5/04/26 Individual No Open AI

Campaign Analysis

Assessment Type 1: Written Submission
Indicative Time on Task 2: 40 hours
Due: Week 13: Sunday 7/06/26
Weighting: 40%
Groupwork/Individual: Individual
Short extension 3: No
AI assisted?: Open AI

Campaign Analysis: Written Report (2000wds) OR Conference Presentation (8-10mins) plus abstract (250-500wds)
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • evaluate strengths and weaknesses of dominant theories
  • apply social movement theory to contemporary Australian and international movements
  • analyse strategic and ethical problems that arise in the quest for political change
  • reflect on practical realities of social movements through analysis of activities of social movements and social movement organisations
  • design and execute primary research on a particular social movement campaign

Reading Reflection

Assessment Type 1: Written Submission
Indicative Time on Task 2: 12 hours
Due: Week 4: Sunday 22/03/26
Weighting: 25%
Groupwork/Individual: Individual
Short extension 3: No
AI assisted?: Open AI

This task requires students to answer a question in relation to their responses to readings from the first part of the unit.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • identify the major theories developed to explain social movements
  • evaluate strengths and weaknesses of dominant theories

Campaign Analysis Outline

Assessment Type 1: Professional task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 28 hours
Due: Week 6: 5/04/26
Weighting: 35%
Groupwork/Individual: Individual
Short extension 3: No
AI assisted?: Open AI

Campaign Analysis Outline: Short plan (750 words) plus reference list for campaign analysis
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • apply social movement theory to contemporary Australian and international movements
  • analyse strategic and ethical problems that arise in the quest for political change
  • reflect on practical realities of social movements through analysis of activities of social movements and social movement organisations
  • design and execute primary research on a particular social movement campaign

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation.

3 An automatic short extension is available for some assessments. Apply through the Service Connect Portal.

Delivery and Resources

Classes will be run as follows:

  • There will be a 1-hr lecture on Fridays (on-campus and livestreamed) from 1-2pm, followed by a 2-hr workshop for on-campus students from 2-4pm. Both take place in the same location: 01CC 114 Groupwork Learning Space
  • There will be a schedule online tutorial via zoom for external students on Mondays from 4-5pm. Zoom links etc. will be provided via the course ilearn page. External students are expected to have listened to the previous Friday's lecture live or have reviewed it in their own time by each Monday's zoom tutorial.
 
 

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit connect.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Academic Success

Academic Success provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via the Service Connect Portal, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Unit information based on version 2026.01R of the Handbook