Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics

Front Cover
Cambridge University Press, May 13, 1998 - History - 271 pages
Unlike political or economic institutions, social movements have an elusive power, but one that is no less real. From the French and American revolutions through the democratic and workers' movements of the nineteenth century to the totalitarian movements of today, movements exercise a fleeting but powerful influence on politics and society. This study surveys the history of the social movement, puts forward a theory of collective action to explain its surges and declines, and offers an interpretation of the power of movement that emphasises its effects on personal lives, policy reforms and political culture. While covering cultural, organisational and personal sources of movements' power, the book emphasises the rise and fall of social movements as part of political struggle and as the outcome of changes in political opportunity structure.

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Contents

Contentious Politics and Social Movements
10
The Birth of the Modern Social Movement
27
Modular Collective Action
29
Print and Association
43
State Building and Social Movements
54
From Contention to Social Movements
69
Political Opportunities and Constraints
71
Acting Contentiously
91
The Dynamics of Movement
139
Cycles of Contention
141
Struggling to Reform
161
Transnational Contention
176
The Future of Social Movements
196
Notes
211
Sources
233
Index
263

Framing Contention
106
Mobilizing Structures and Contentious Politics
123

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