This book is a straightforward exposition of the social-theoretical fields and problematic issues relating to contemporary social movements and identities. The issues important to 'new social movements' (identity, culture, diversity, power, and local activism) are examined by providing intelligible connections between the contrasting perspectives of critical theory and postmodern thought. Professor Su H. Lee analyzes the affinity between poststructuralist theories and new social movements in light of cultural multiplicity and social fragmentation, while questioning the political and ethical implications that arise from the political emblem of identity and difference. The overarching approach of Debating New Social Movements is both synthetic and analytic. It bridges disconnected themes under contrasting theoretical frameworks, and takes a stance from critical theory to expose significant shortfalls in the postmodern political and cultural thoughts on identity and social movements.

Ina Peters analyzes how collective identities and collective action frames have contributed to the persistence and eventual fragmentation of the collective action against the Belo Monte Dam. Reconstructing the rationale of the conflict, Ina Peters addresses theoretical research gaps regarding the dynamics – particularly cohesion and fragmentation – in social movements. The study considers the influence of the regional context and the applicability of Western theories in non-Western case studies. It is based on primary data that was collected through semistructured interviews and analyzed in detail by means of a combined top-down and bottom-up procedure based on the grounded theory methodology.

Scholars consider ways in which the social movement has changed as a politics and how it changes the societies in which it occurs. This volume contains revealing perspectives on the effectiveness of social protest.

This volume attempts to show the emerging contours of ‘transformative action’ in social movements across South Asia. It argues that these contours have been shaped by contestations over questions of equity, justice and well-being on the one hand, and the nature and scope of new and classical social movements on the other. This is manifest in diverse modes through people’s struggles, protest and dissent. The authors examine a variety of themes that have determined the course of the politics of transformative struggles. They critique neoliberalism, ‘primitive’ accumulation, money, class inequalities, as well as aspects of capital–labour conflict. They highlight the contributions of movements by women, dalit and marginalized communities; peace movements; and environmental and agrarian struggles. The volume also appraises the role of internet in grassroots mobilizations and that of civil society networks in the making of participatory democracy. It further argues that the predicaments of cultural, ethnic, national, regional, and linguistic identities are not divorced from capital–labour conflicts. The book will serve as essential reading for students and scholars of sociology, social movements, politics, gender and feminist studies, labour studies, and the informed general reader.

Explains the character of contemporary protest politics through a micro-mobilization analysis of participation in street demonstrations.

Håvard Haarstad is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Geography, University of Bergen. He has worked extensively on the political economy of natural resource extraction, and the role of social movements, civil society and labor unions in politicizing extraction. Mark Amen is graduate program director in the Department of Government and International Affairs at the University of South Florida/Tampa and Deputy Editor of Globalizations. His current research is on urban indebtedness and the global economy. Asuncion Lera St Clair, philosopher and sociologist is Research Director at the Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo-CICERO and Associated Senior Researcher with Chr. Michelsens Institute (CMI). Her research focus is on the interface between climate change, poverty and development, with particular emphasis on justice, ethics, and knowledge productions processes.

Democracies are being challenged on new and different fronts: by globalization, by the fragmentation of postmodernity, by collective identities. Social movements challenge democracy by calling for readjustments in its decision-making processes. At the same time the social movements are forms of collective action that help the democracies--by keeping them in tension--to respond to the challenges arising from the other fronts. The book deals with this double relationship between social movements and democracy, the movements as challengers and as “maintainers” of democracy.

Freedom Is an Endless Meeting offers vivid portraits of American experiments in participatory democracy throughout the twentieth century. Drawing on meticulous research and more than one hundred interviews with activists, Francesca Polletta challenges the conventional wisdom that participatory democracy is worthy in purpose but unworkable in practice. Instead, she shows that social movements have often used bottom-up decision making as a powerful tool for political change. Polletta traces the history of democracy in early labor struggles and pre-World War II pacifism, in the civil rights, new left, and women's liberation movements of the sixties and seventies, and in today's faith-based organizing and anti-corporate globalization campaigns. In the process, she uncovers neglected sources of democratic inspiration—Depression-era labor educators and Mississippi voting registration workers, among them—as well as practical strategies of social protest. But Freedom Is an Endless Meeting also highlights the obstacles that arise when activists model their democracies after familiar nonpolitical relationships such as friendship, tutelage, and religious fellowship. Doing so has brought into their deliberations the trust, respect, and caring typical of those relationships. But it has also fostered values that run counter to democracy, such as exclusivity and an aversion to rules, and these have been the fault lines around which participatory democracies have often splintered. Indeed, Polletta attributes the fragility of the form less to its basic inefficiency or inequity than to the gaps between activists' democratic commitments and the cultural models on which they have depended to enact those commitments. The challenge, she concludes, is to forge new kinds of democratic relationships, ones that balance trust with accountability, respect with openness to disagreement, and caring with inclusiveness. For anyone concerned about the prospects for democracy in America, Freedom Is an Endless Meeting will offer abundant historical, theoretical, and practical insights. "This is an excellent study of activist politics in the United States over the past century. . . . Assiduously researched, impressively informed by a great number of thoughtful interviews with key members of American social movements, and deeply engaged with its subject matter, the book is likely to become a key text in the study of grass-roots democracy in America."—Kate Fullbrook, Times Literary Supplement "Polletta's portrayal challenges the common assumption that morality and strategy are incompatible, that those who aim at winning must compromise principle while those who insist on morality are destined to be ineffective. . . . Rather than dwell on trying to explain the decline of 60s movements, Polletta shows how participatory democracy has become the guiding framework for many of today's activists."—Richard Flacks, Los Angeles Times Book Review "In Freedom Is an Endless Meeting, Francesca Polletta has produced a remarkable work of historical sociology. . . . She provides the fullest theoretical work of historical sociology. . . . She provides the fullest theoretical picture of participatory democracy, rich with nuance, ambiguity, and irony, that this reviewer has yet seen. . . . This wise book should be studied closely by both academics and by social change activists."—Stewart Burns, Journal of American History

As the world experiences social unrest, polarization, and faces complex challenges, citizens are taking to the squares and streets to demand change. From climate change protests to far-right extremism, social movements are mobilizing around the key social and political issues of our times. In this extensively revised and updated book, the author offers a cutting-edge and original analysis to generate new insights into 21st Century social movements in a globalized world. Written in clear and accessible language, this book will appeal to both students new to the field and established scholars. Drawing on a wealth of examples from around the world, from Anonymous and Occupy Wall Street to Wikileaks, the Tea Party, and the Zapatistas, it develops a compelling framework with which to understand the important role movements play in contemporary politics. This expanded and revised second edition includes a comprehensive overview of social movement theory, a new chapter on “Movements on the Right”, a wider discussion of Information and Communication Technologies and Media - including new sections on “hacktivism” and “leaktivism” -and up-to-date case studies and references.