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www.GOALias.blogspot.comCredit: Bhawan SinghPhotograph on thisand the facing pageare of the participantsand leaders of theChipko Movement,recognised as one ofthe first environmentalmovements in thecountry.In this chapter…Three decades after Independence, the people were beginning toget impatient. Their unease expressed itself in various forms. In theprevious chapter, we have already gone through the story of electoralupheavals and political crisis. Yet that was not the only form in whichpopular discontent expressed itself. In the 1970s, diverse social groupslike women, students, Dalits and farmers felt that democratic politics didnot address their needs and demands. Therefore, they came togetherunder the banner of various social organisations to voice their demands.These assertions marked the rise of popular movements or new socialmovements in Indian politics.In this chapter we trace the journey of some of the popular movementsthat developed after the 1970s in order to understand:• what are popular movements?• which sections of Indian society have they mobilised?• what is the main agenda of these movements?• what role do they play in a democratic set up like ours?