sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

, an action group or task group is a group of people joined temporarily to accomplish some task or take part in some organized

collective action Collective action refers to action taken together by a group of people whose goal is to enhance their condition and achieve a common objective. It is a term that has formulations and theories in many areas of the social sciences including psych ...

. As the members of the action group are brought together on a single occasion and then disband, they cannot be regarded as constituting a full-fledged

social group In the social sciences, a social group can be defined as two or more people who interact with one another, share similar characteristics, and collectively have a sense of unity. Regardless, social groups come in a myriad of sizes and varieties ...

, for which they would need to interact recurrently in accordance with their

social identities Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

In shareholder context

Action Groups are often formed by many

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...

s when they disagree with actions by the

Board of Directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of a

Public Company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...

or the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

like the forced

Nationalisation of Northern Rock In 2008 the Northern Rock bank was Nationalization, nationalised by the Government of the United Kingdom, British government, due to financial problems caused by the subprime mortgage crisis. In 2010 the bank was split into two parts (Northern Ro ...

Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of ...

with 49,000 members.RPSAG: Appeal Decision
RPSAG, 21 October 2005 Action groups are co-ordinated by private investors in shareholder associations or their legal representatives in court.

Institutional investor An institutional investor is an entity which pools money to purchase securities, real property, and other investment assets or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial banks, central banks, credit unions, government-linked co ...

s often find loose alliances with private investor lead shareholder association actions groups useful in applying mass political pressure or to publicly embarrass Directors at Annual general meetings into making changes. The largest established shareholder action group associations are Sveriges Aktiesparares Riksförbund (the Swedish Shareholders' Association) part of the Euroshareholders group in the UK ShareSoc and UKSA (UK Shareholder Association),. American Shareholders Association,

Australian Shareholders Association Australian Shareholders' Association (ASA) is an Australian not-for-profit organisation which advocates for the rights of retail shareholders. Founded in 1960 in Sydney, ASA provides educational resources and professional learning opportunities ...

, and Japan

Sōkaiya (sometimes also translated as "corporate bouncers", "meeting-men", or "corporate blackmailers") are specialized racketeers unique to Japan, and often associated with the yakuza, who extort money from or blackmail companies by threatening to publi ...

also have action groups.

In Latin American context

In Cuba and elsewhere in Latin America, the word "action group" () was given to violent activists who gathered together to perform violent guerrilla activities e.g. (see

Antonio Guiteras Antonio Guiteras y Holmes (22 November 1906 – 8 May 1935) was a leading politician in Cuba during the 1930s. Biography He was born 22 November 1906 in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a proponent of revolutionary socialism and participate ...

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

Emilio Tro Emilio may refer to: * Emilio Navaira, a Mexican-American singer often called "Emilio" * Emilio Piazza Memorial School, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State * Emilio (given name) * ''Emilio'' (film), a 2008 film by Kim Jorgensen See also * Emílio (dis ...

Lauro Blanco Lauro is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Avellino, Campania, southern Italy. It is located in lower Irpinia, in a woody valley. Sights include the remains of a 1st-century BC Roman ''thermae In ancient Rome, (from ...

, and

Rolando Masferrer Rolando Arcadio Masferrer Rojas (1918–1975), was born on July 12, 1918, in Holguin, former Oriente Province, Cuba, better known simply as Rolando Masferrer, was a Cuban henchman, lawyer, congressman, newspaper publisher and a political activist. ...

when young university students

https://web.archive.org/web/20060310210243/http://www.amigospais-guaracabuya.org/oagjs098.php]. Commonly regarded as gang-related killing there were said to have been 200 of these killings in the Grau administration alone. (Martin, Lionel. ''The Early Fidel: Roots of Castro's Communism''. 1978. Lyle Stuart, Secaucus New Jersey; 1st ed, p. 25). .

In Nigeria

References

{{Reflist

External links

Student sets up action group to lobby for 360p Telegraph, 16 October 2001

Defeat for Railtrack shareholders BBC News, 14 October 2005
49,000-strong Railtrack Private Shareholders Action Group * ''Guardian'', 15 October 2005

Roger Lawson of the UK Shareholders Association said that there was a 'good chance' that they would appeal the decision.

ShareSoc the UK Individual Shareholder Association UKISS

UK Shareholders Association UKSA

American Shareholders Association

Dutch Shareholders Association

Euroshareholders Sociological terminology Anthropology