breakdown theory of collective action

Breakdown theory is the classic sociological explanation of contentious forms of collective action such as riots, rebellion, and civil violence. The theory says, these events occur when mechanisms of social control lose their restraining power. Researchers claimed that breakdown theory couldn’t account for societal events as they were then unfolding - the social movements and collective violence of the 1960s and 1970s, nor for newly collected historical data ending its dominance in 1970s. A new theory emerged to explain the anomalies. Resource mobilization theorists said collective action flows not from breakdown but from groups wing for political position and advantages.