Social Movements and Social Classes
The Future of Collective Action
- Louis Maheu - University of Montreal, Canada
Part One reviews the various analytical approaches used to explain the foundations for collective action. Part Two examines the close links between local power structures, spatial issues and the institutionalization of collective action. Part Three analyzes the ways that social struggles penetrate political life, with further reflections on culture and democracy.
`This book includes the work of twelve authors and many different topics are discussed... The chapters of the book were originally papers presented in Madrid in 1990 at the conference of the International Sociological Association's Research Committee on Social Movements and Social Classes Research. Since then, the authors have rewritten their contributions, and what is especially interesting is that they have commented on the contributions in the other chapters. This means that most chapters not only present the ideas of the individual authors, but also comment on and engage in a dialogue with the other contributions. In this way the book reveals the variation in the field of social movements and classes and the process has forced the authors to sharpen their arguments. The result is that the book is a presentation of a debate, but it does not provide definite answers. Rather, it mirrors the constant attempts to grasp the different theories and empirical studies of this field' - Acta Sociologica
