On the basis of data collected by questionaire among participants in a 'freedom ride' on US Route 40 in 1961, the role of strains in the growth of an incipient soc movement is analyzed. Although strains are positively related to intense participation in the activities of the movement, the data indicate that the most deprived are strongly underrepresented in its ranks. This is explained by the fact that incipient movements do not attract people who are living under long-endured privations, unless they are moved at the same time by a radical ideology & rebellious alienation. It is argued that access to ideological beliefs is diff'ially distributed throughout the soc structure, with important consequences for early recruitment to movements designed to bring about soc change. AA.