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Consciousness raising was developed in the radical feminist wing of the women's liberation movement. It was originally envisioned as a means of creating revolution. The reform wing of the movement took up consciousness raising after 1970 partially in response to grassroots pressure and partially to attract members. As consciousness raising spread, the political content began to disappear. Ultimately, consciousness raising moved into the orbit of the group therapy movement. The transformation of consciousness raising from its revolutionary origins to convergence with group therapies is tied to the history of radical feminism and to a change in its practitioners. The history of consciousness raising reflects not only the power of the therapeutic view, but more significantly, brings into question the value of the process both for the movement and for individuals, as long as political content is left out.

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The organizational affiliations of four groups of nineteenth century women in New York State provide the basis for an exploration of tensions between local and national level organizations within a social movement. Information about overlapping membership among women's organizations over a period of almost seventy years is used to map the geography of connections between organizations affiliated with the early women's movement and other voluntary groups. In particular, we explore the connections of the movement's organizations to non-insurgent voluntarism in each setting, describing the range and patterning of organizational ties, the factors that determined the movement's niche in each location, and the differential consequences for national and local organizations within the same movement. Based on this analysis, we propose an ecological model of movement heterogeneity, suggesting that organizational niche differences are a significant source of tension in successful social movements.