Following up some years later, Aldon D. Morris’s 1999 ARS piece takes a broad look at the civil rights movement literature in the social sciences and pays special attention to its larger lessons for subsequent social movements and policy formation.
In addition to celebrating charismatic leaders, sociologists who study social movements tend to want to call attention to the historical conditions and organizations that help a leader like MLK emerge and foster their impact. This 1986 classic focuses particular attention on the black church, reminding us of the broader movement and key institutions and organizations that made the movement as well as the man.