Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements: Political Opportunities, Mobilizing Structures, and Cultural Framings(Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)

Social movements such as environmentalism, feminism, nationalism, and the anti-immigration movement figure prominently in the modern world. Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements examines social movements in a comparative perspective, focusing on the role of ideology and beliefs, mechanisms of mobilization, and how politics shapes the development and outcomes of movements. It includes case studies of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the United States, Italy, the Netherlands, and West Germany.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: opportunities mobilizing structures and framing processes Doug McAdam; Part I. Political Opportunities: 1. Clarifying the concept of political opportunities Doug McAdam; 2. States and opportunities: the political structuring of social movements Sidney Tarrow; 3. Social movements and the state: thoughts on the policing of protest Donatella della Porta; 4. Opportunities and framing in the East European revolts of 1989 Anthony Oberschall; 5. Opportunities and Framing in the Political Cycle of Perestroika Elena Zdravomyslova; Part II. Mobilizing Structures: 6. Mobilizing structures: constraints and opportunities in adopting, adapting and inventing John D. McCarthy; 7. The organizational structure of new social movements in relation to their political context Hanspeter Kriesi; 8. The impact of national contexts on social movement structures: a cross-movement and cross-national comparison Dieter Rucht; 9. Organizational form as frame: collective identity and political strategy in the American Labor Movement 1880–1920 Elisabeth S. Clemens; 10. The collapse of a social movement: the interplay of mobilizing structures, framing, and political opportunities in the Knights of Labor Kim Voss; Part III. Framing Processes: 11. Culture ideology and strategic framing Mayer N. Zald; 12. Accessing public media electoral and governmental agendas John D. McCarthy, Jackie Smith, and Mayer N. Zald; 13. Media discourse, movement publicity, and the generation of collective action frames: theoretical and empirical exercises in meaning construction Bert Klandermans and Sjoerd Goslinga; 14. Framing political opportunity William A. Gamson and David S. Meyer; 15. The framing function of movement tactics: strategic dramaturgy in the American civil rights movement Doug McAdam.

Review :
"...this edited book is an invaluable resource..." Crawford Young, Perspectives on Political Science "These four essays...should become required reading for every graduate course on social movements...the volume shows far more coherence than most anthologies and much cross-referencing between chapters...the strength of the volume is its examination of grassroots social movements and their sometime connections to public interest lobbies...The goal of the authors, however, is to provide a broad framework for systematic comparative study of social movements. In this they have ably succeeded." Carol M. Mueller, Contemporary Sociology "This book is a successful attempt by the editors and authors, leading theorists in the social movement field, to assess and further the growing field of comparative analysis of social movements. Overall, this volume makes a major contribution to the development of our understanding of social movements and adds to our knowledge of politics, the state, and culture." Robert Kleidman, Social Forces