Few concepts and/or processes have so intrigued and perplexed philosophers, theologians, social scientists, and, more recently, neuroscientists, as that of consciousness and the cognate concept of conscience. Both concepts figure prominently in theorizing and analyzing social movements and the dynamics of their mobilization. This entry provides an overview of key dimensions of the concepts, and an introduction to the scholarly arguments over their conceptualization and functioning with respect to class and oppositional consciousness, false consciousness, consciousness raising and transformation, and, in relation to conscience, prisoners of conscience, moral convictions and incentives, and conscience constituents.