An inspiring collection that uses case studies and theoretical reflection to contextualise the linkages between collective action theories, social movement practices and the phenomenon of globalisation. All of the perspectives presented will force a rethink of the exact meaning of globalisation and the way in which such insights can be used to advance understanding of basic transformations occurring in the diverse world of the twenty-first century.
This clear and concise book examines the crucial relationship between globalization and social movements. Deftly combining nuanced theory with rich empirical examples, leading scholar Valentine M. Moghadam focuses especially on three transnational social movements-Islamism, feminism, and global justice. Defining globalization as a complex process in which the mobility of capital, peoples, organizations, movements, and ideas takes on an increasingly transnational form, the author shows how both physical and electronic mobility has helped to create dynamic global social movements. Globalization has engendered the spread of neoliberal capitalism across the world, but it also has engendered opposition and collective action.
What is the connection between globalization and social movements? How have people collectively responded to globalization’s economic, political, and cultural manifestations and challenges? And how are contemporary social movements and networks affecting the progression of globalization? This clear and concise book answers these questions by examining social movements and transnational networks in the context of globalization in all its forms—economic, political, cultural, and technological alike. Deftly combining nuanced theory with rich empirical examples, leading scholar Valentine M. Moghadam provides four in-depth case studies: global feminism and transnational feminist networks; global Islamism ranging from parliamentary to extremist; the global justice movement and the World Social Forum; and varieties and gender dynamics of populisms. In a new chapter, she draws attention to the emergence and growth of right-wing populist movements, political parties, and governments, not only in Europe but in the Global South as well. Defining globalization as a complex process in which the movement of capital, peoples, organizations, movements, and ideas takes on an increasingly international form, the author shows how growing physical and electronic mobility has helped to create dynamic global social movements. Exploring the historical roots of Islamism, feminism, global justice, and populism, Moghadam also shows how these movements have been stimulated by relatively recent globalization processes. She reveals their similarities and differences, internal differentiation, relationship to globalization and states, and the opportunities and challenges that the movements face. Assessing the extent to which the movements contribute to democracy, or—conversely—endanger it, she considers prospects for a renewed and more robust form of democracy. Informed by feminist, world-systems, world polity, and social movement theories in a seamlessly integrated framework, her work will be essential reading for all students of globalization.
The two current trends of democratization and deepening economic liberalization have made Latin American countries a ground for massive defensive mobilization campaigns and have created new sites of popular struggle. In this edited volume on Latin American social movements, original chapters are combined with peer-reviewed articles from the well-regarded journal Mobilization. Each section represents a major theme in Latin American social movement research. Original chapters discuss the Madres de Plaza de Mayo movement in Argentina and the Zapatista movement in Chiapas, Mexico. Also included in the book's coverage of the region's major movements are los piqueteros and antisweatshop labor organizing. This is the first study to focus closely on the related issues of neoliberal globalization, democratization, and the workings of transnational advocacy networks in Latin America.
Nationalist movements in the South have been superseded by a plethora of different social movements. This book examines these new movements and considers emerging paradigms of organization and mobilization, which are related to the role movements play in economic and political development. The book analyzes a number of cases and their context and discusses the implications for social movement theory. The focus is on social movements among underprivileged and middle class groups, and the book is global in scope.
Presenting the first systematic empirical research on the global justice movement, Globalization from Below analyzes a movement from the viewpoints of the activists, organizers, and demonstrators themselves. The authors traveled to Genoa with anti-G8 protesters and collected data from more than 800 participants. They examine the interactions between challengers and elites, and discuss how new models of activism fit into current social movement work.
"Smith and Johnston bring together essays that assess the implications of globalization of political mobilization and explore the way that social movement actors are able to affect change in global political processes. Most of the material focuses on how global forces impact particular organizations or campaigns, but two chapters explore the building of transnational networks by environmental and other groups. Specific topics include Irish transnational social movements, the shaping of protected area systems in less developed countries, the anti-dam movement in Brazil, and the U.S.-Central American peace movement." -- BookNews.
The sociology of Latin America, established in the region over the past eighty years, is a thriving field whose major contributions include dependence theory, world-systems theory, and historical debates on economic development, among others. The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Latin America provides research essays that introduce the readers to the discipline's key areas and current trends, specifically with regard to contemporary sociology in Latin America, as well as a collection of innovative empirical studies deploying a variety of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The essays in the Handbook are arranged in eight research subfields in which scholars are currently making significant theoretical and methodological contributions: Sociology of the State, Social Inequalities, Sociology of Religion, Collective Action and Social Movements, Sociology of Migration, Sociology of Gender, Medical Sociology, and Sociology of Violence and Insecurity. Due to the deterioration of social and economic conditions, as well as recent disruptions to an already tense political environment, these have become some of the most productive and important fields in Latin American sociology. This roiling sociopolitical atmosphere also generates new and innovative expressions of protest and survival, which are being explored by sociologists across different continents today. The essays included in this collection offer a map to and a thematic articulation of central sociological debates that make it a critical resource for those scholars and students eager to understand contemporary sociology in Latin America.
The growing interdependence on a global scale which characterizes the human condition at the turn of the century constitutes a challenge for both the mobilization of social movements and social movement theory. The present volume makes an attempt to adjust the perspective of the political process approach to a world in which political opportunities, mobilizing structures, framing processes and collective action of social movements are no longer confined to national political contexts.
