Some ideas start out small and become revolutions that change our lives in a meaningful way. They usually start with acts of courage and freedom in thought by some rare individual who gives other the push to ask and fight for a better world. Here are some examples of such experiments that have brought change in societies over time and some continue to do so even today: 1. Civil Disobedience 
Civil disobedience is the public act of willfully disobeying the law and/or the commands of an authority figure, to make a political statement. Participants expect to be arrested, and are frequently charged with crimes such as trespass, failure to disperse, or failure to obey an officer. The purpose of civil disobedience is to convey a political message, which is accomplished through increased media coverage of the issue. Civil disobedience is generally understood to be nonviolent. The dandi march, extremadura campaign in Spain, Rosa Park’s refusal to give up her seat, Singing revolution in Estonia, fight for the larzac are examples of such movements. This figures at the top because of its effectiveness to bring together the masses in their campaign to obtain their rights, even in a system which is meant to be as liberal as democracy or otherwise, without the use of undue bloodshed. 2. Advent of democracy 
Democracy is a kind of government in which all eligible citizens participate equally. They are either directly or through elected representatives in the proposal, development, and creation of laws. The idea is to prevent authoritarian power with one person or a group of few individuals. In most modern democracies, the whole body of all eligible citizens remain the sovereign power but political power is exercised through elected representatives. This is called representative democracy. Furthermore, freedom of political expression, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press are considered to be essential rights that allow eligible citizens to be adequately informed and able to vote according to their own interests. Countries like Norway, Sweden, North America, and Australia are examples of high scoring democratized nations and the world is still continuing a rapid process of adapting to various forms of democracy over time with a further emphasis on elections. 3. Gay pride 
Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. While feminists around the world have differed in goals depending on time, culture, and country, most Western feminist historians assert that all movements that work to obtain women’s rights should be considered feminist movements. Feminism is mainly focused on women’s issues, but because feminism seeks gender equality, bell hooks and other feminists have argued that men’s liberation is a necessary part of feminism, and that men are also harmed by sexism and gender roles. 4. Women’s Rights 
Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. While feminists around the world have differed in goals depending on time, culture, and country, most Western feminist historians assert that all movements that work to obtain women’s rights should be considered feminist movements. Feminism is mainly focused on women’s issues, but because feminism seeks gender equality, bell hooks and other feminists have argued that men’s liberation is a necessary part of feminism, and that men are also harmed by sexism and gender roles. 5. Free culture 
The free culture movement is a social movement that promotes the freedom to distribute and modify creative works in the form of free content by using the Internet and other forms of media. The movement objects to overly-restrictive copyright laws. Many members of the movement argue that such laws hinder creativity. They call this system “permission culture”. Creative Commons is a well-known website which was started by Lawrence Lessig. It lists licenses that permit sharing under various conditions, and also offers an online search of various creative-commons-licensed productions. 6. Free love 
Free love is a social movement that rejects marriage, which is seen as a form of social and financial bondage. According to this concept, the free unions of adults are legitimate relations which should be respected by all third parties whether they are emotional or sexual relations. In addition, some free-love writing has argued that both men and women have the right to sexual pleasure. Many people in the early 19th century believed that marriage was an important aspect of life to “fulfil earthly human happiness.” The history of free love is entwined with the history of feminism. Middle-class Americans wanted the home to be a place of stability in an uncertain world. This mentality created a vision on strongly defined gender roles, which led to the advancement of the free love movement. 7. Naturism 
Naturism or nudism is a cultural and political movement practicing, advocating and defending social nudity in private and in public. It has proposed that combining physical fitness, sunlight, and fresh air bathing, and then adding the nudist philosophy, contributed to mental and psychological fitness, good health, and an improved moral-life view. The naturist philosophy has several sources, many of which can be traced back to early 20th century health and fitness philosophies in Germany, though the concepts of returning to nature and creating equality are also cited as inspiration. People interested in social nudity can attend clothes-free beaches and other types of ad-hoc nudist events. At these venues, participants generally need not belong to a naturist club. 8. Chipko Movement 
The Chipko movement, though primarily a livelihood protection movement rather than a forest conservation movement, went on to become a rallying point for many future environmentalists, environmental protests and movements all over the world and created a precedent for non-violent protest. . It occurred at a time when there was hardly any environmental movement in the developing world. The modern Chipko movement started in the early 1970n Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand, then in Uttar Pradesh with growing awareness towards rapid deforestation. The landmark event in this struggle took place on March 26, 1974, when a group of peasant women in Reni village, Hemwalghati, in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India, acted to prevent the cutting of trees and reclaim their traditional forest rights that were threatened by the contractor system of the state Forest Department. Their actions inspired hundreds of such actions at the grassroots level throughout the region. By the 1980s the movement had spread throughout India and led to formulation of people-sensitive forest policies, which put a stop to the open felling of trees in regions as far reaching as Vindhyas and the Western Ghats. 9. One million signatures 
One Million Signatures for the Repeal of Discriminatory Laws, also known as Change for Equality, is a campaign by women in Iran to collect one million signatures in support of changing discriminatory laws against women in their country. The campaign seeks to secure equal rights in marriage and inheritance, an end to polygamy, and stricter punishments for honor killings and other forms of violence. Iranian women’s rights activists in Iran started the Campaign, to follow up a peaceful protest with the same aim on 12 June 2006 in Haft-e Tir Square in Tehran. Preparation started immediately in June, and the campaign was officially launched on August 28, at a seminar entitled The Impact of Laws on Women’s Lives. The campaign has received wide international recognition. Activists of the movement have been attacked and jailed by the government, and the campaign has had to extend its two year target to collect the full number of signatures. 10. Free hugs 
In this age of social dis-connectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal. Juan Mann (pseudonym for “one man”), the creator of the idea, started giving out hugs from December 1, 2004 in the Pitt Street Mall in central Sydney. A few months ago, he had been feeling depressed and lonely because of numerous personal difficulties. However, a random hug from a stranger made an enormous difference to him. Mann carried the now iconic “FREE HUGS” sign from the outset. Initial distrust of his motives eventually vanished and more people became willing to be hugged (male and female). Months later, Juan Mann was still giving out hugs when he met Shimon Moore. On the day of his grandmother’s funeral, Mann found a DVD in the mailbox, with a box named “This is who you are,”. One week later, Moore uploaded the “free hugs” video onto YouTube. It raked up almost 100 million views. On August 23, 2009, “Juan Mann” announced his retirement from Free Hugs, and has invited any interested party to take over the role.
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