It is a truism that no society is static. Space, processes and nature as well as the direction of social change vary from time to time and society to society. Social movements play an important role in escalating not only the processes of change, but also in giving direction to social transformation. But the institution- alised social sciences have not paid much attention for a long period to social move- ments. That has been left to social histori- ans. As social movements are seen as congruent with social conflict, they are neglected by the structural-functional approach, the dominant paradigm of the discipline which emphasises harmony and equilibrium.