Social Movements and World-System Transformation: (Political Economy of the World-System Annuals)

At a particularly urgent world-historical moment, this volume brings together some of the leading researchers of social movements and global social change and other emerging scholars and practitioners to advance new thinking about social movements and global transformation. Social movements around the world today are responding to crisis by defying both political and epistemological borders, offering alternatives to the global capitalist order that are imperceptible through the modernist lens. Informed by a world-historical perspective, contributors explain today’s struggles as building upon the experiences of the past while also coming together globally in ways that are inspiring innovation and consolidating new thinking about what a fundamentally different, more equitable, just, and sustainable world order might look like. This collection offers new insights into contemporary movements for global justice, challenging readers to appreciate how modernist thinking both colors our own observations and complicates the work of activists seeking to resolve inequities and contradictions that are deeply embedded in Western cultural traditions and institutions. Contributors consider today’s movements in the longue durée—that is, they ask how Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring, and other contemporary struggles for liberation reflect, build upon, or diverge from anti-colonial and other emancipatory struggles of the past. Critical to this volume is its exploration of how divisions over gender equity and diversity of national cultures and class have impacted what are increasingly intersectional global movements. The contributions of feminist and indigenous movements come to the fore in this collective exploration of what the movements of yesterday and today can contribute to our ongoing effort to understand the dynamics of global transformation in order to help advance a more equitable, just, and ecologically sustainable world.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Michael Goodhart, Patrick Manning, John Markoff, and Jackie Smith Part 1) Disrupting Hegemonic Discourses & Modes of Thought Janet Conway, Brock University, "The Study of Social Movements in the Modern-Colonial World System" Joyce Dalsheim, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, "Other Moral Orders: Epistemology & Resistance in Israel/Palestine" *Dialogue –Jackie Smith Part 2: World-Historical Perspectives on Emancipatory Struggles & Organizational Logics Patrick Manning, "Linking Social Movement Networks, 1989 to 1992: Southeast Asia, Africa and South America" Todd Wolfson, Rutgers University & Peter Funke, University of South Florida, "Contemporary Social Movements and Media: The Emergent Nomadic Political Logic and its Nervous System" Rafal Soborski "Ideological Imbalance Post the Credit Crunch: Neoliberalism Versus the Politics of Resistance" *Dialogue: -Patrick Manning Part 3: Practices and Challenges in Contemporary Organizing across Diversity 6) Manisha Desai, University of Connecticut, "Exploring the Persistence of Gendered Geographies of Global Justice" 7) Lee Cormie, University of Toronto, "Religious Others and Global Social Justice Movements" 9) Jackie Smith and Rachel Kutz-Flamenbaum "Transnational Feminism and United Nations Global Conferences" *Dialogue- John Markoff Part 4: The Politics of Making Life Possible: Towards Buen Vivir? 10) Leonardo E. Figueroa Helland and Pratik Raghu, Westminster College, "Indigeneity Vs. ‘Civilization’: Indigenous Alternatives To The Planetary Rift In The World-System Ecology" 11) Peter (Jay) Smith "Spirituality and Global Capitalism – Contested Perspectives *Dialogue- Michael Goodhart Conclusion: Jackie Smith, Michael Goodhart, Patrick Manning and John Markoff, "Transforming the World-System? What Would Revolution Look Like?"

About the Author :
Jackie Smith is Professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh. Michael Goodhart is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh. Patrick Manning is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of World History at the University of Pittsburgh. John Markoff is Distinguished University Professor of Sociology and History at the University of Pittsburgh.