In the 1980s South Africa's urban townships exploded into insurrection led by youth and residents' organizations that collectively became known as the civics movement. Ironically the movement has been unable to adapt to the role of a voluntary association in the liberal polity it helped create, and has great difficulty defining any alternative role. This volume charts the rise and fall of the movement in the transition to and consolidation of democracy in South Africa.

The tide of 1960s political upheaval, while mistaken at the time by some as a unified assault against America carried out by revolutionaries at home and abroad, was actually hundreds of locally constructed expressions of political discourse, reflecting the influences of race, class, gender, and local conditions on each unique group of practitioners. This is a comparative study of how radicals at the local level staged, displayed, and ultimately narrated symbolic acts of performative violence against the symbols of the American system. The term performative violence refers to a method of public protest whereby participants create the conditions in which their violent actions become a political text, a powerful symbol with a strong historical precedent.

Recognizing the textuality of history, this interdisciplinary examination deconstructs the performative violence within its historically specific and socially constructed contexts using four representative case histories of late 1960s and early 1970s activism. These are the African-American rioters in Kansas City, the Black Panther Party in Detroit, campus radicals at Kansas State University, and activists at the University of Kansas. Rather than focusing on the major clashes of the Vietnam era, this book contributes to recent scholarship on the 1960s which has attempted to offer a more textured analysis of the era's activism, particularly its political violence, based on more local studies.

This book analyzes the individual and contextual determinants of protest politics in Western Europe. Building on different theoretical perspectives, from social movements theory to political behavior approaches, the author provides new empirical evidence on the patterns of protest politics. Readers will discover why some citizens are more likely to get involved in protests than others, and why levels of protest differ from country to country. The author illustrates that engagement in political protest is often rooted in the interplay of the protester's individual characteristics and their home country's contextual characteristics.

This volume offers scholarly perspectives on the creative and humorous nature of the protests at Gezi Park in Turkey, 2013. The contributors argue that these protests inspired musicians, film-makers, social scientists and other creative individuals, out of a concern for the aesthetics of the protests, rather than seizure of political power.

Manzo examines, by means of historical analysis, the effects of global power relationships on the politics of South Africa. The author looks at the ways in which global power constructs identity, normalizes relations of domination, and shapes the form that resistance takes. She asks, for example, why dominated people are so often waging conflicts among themselves rather than directing their resistance unfailingly toward their oppressors. Why, too, is open defiance relatively rare and mass action infrequently used?

South Africa, as an example, is used to illustrate the much broader experience of oppressed populations as they struggle against western domination. The book vividly portrays the complexity of relationships in South Africa and the role played by black resistance in economic and political change over time. Manzo's sound interpretation unifies and enriches the historical progression and establishes a solid foundation for analyzing the lessons South Africa offers about the use of power in international relations.

The 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe was not only a human and ecological disaster, but also a political-ideological one, severely discrediting Soviet governance and galvanizing dissidents in the Eastern Bloc. In the case of Poland, what began as isolated protests against the Soviet nuclear site grew to encompass domestic nuclear projects in general, and in the process spread across the country and attracted new segments of society. This innovative study, combining scholarly analysis with oral histories and other accounts from participants, traces the growth and development of the Polish anti-nuclear movement, showing how it exemplified the broader generational and cultural changes in the nation's opposition movements during the waning days of the state socialist era.

The German abandonment of nuclear power represents one of the most successful popular revolts against technocratic thinking in modern times-the triumph of a dynamic social movement, encompassing a broad swath of West Germans as well as East German dissident circles, over political, economic, and scientific elites. Taking on Technocracy gives a brisk account of this dramatic historical moment, showing how the popularization of scientific knowledge fostered new understandings of technological risk. Combining analyses of social history, popular culture, social movement theory, and histories of science and technology, it offers a compelling narrative of a key episode in the recent history of popular resistance.

Traces the development of the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy and examines the organization's efforts for nuclear disarmament.

'In my work as a gender equality activist, the question I most get asked is, "how do you respond to...?", followed by one of those phrases that leave us feeling frustrated or tongue-tied. In this book, you'll find an empowering roadmap for changing the conversation on social justice issues.' In our increasingly polarised society, having productive discussions about social justice issues has never been more challenging, or more crucial. From the persistent ('not all men,' 'I don't see colour') to the insidious ('to play devil's advocate...', 'climate change is coming'), too often, antagonistic or problematic responses threaten to distract and derail our most urgent conversations. Tackling twenty of the most enduring conversation-stoppers, No Offence, But... equips readers with the knowledge, tools and context to respond with confidence. Alongside other trailblazing writers, educators and advocates, acclaimed campaigner Gina Martin helps us to unpick these phrases, understand why they are harmful and feel empowered to change the conversation. Featuring chapters from Aja Barber, Ben Hurst, Cathy Reay, Charlie Craggs, Daze Aghaji, Ione Gamble, Koa Beck, Mariam Kemple Hardy and Azadeh Hosseini, Nova Reid and Salma El-Wardany.

The 'moment' of May 1968 offered a vivid example of intellectual engagement with radical politics, which dominated the late 1960s and 1970s but arguably became passe thereafter with the emergence of a depoliticised post-modernism and the seeming demise of Marxism after the fall of Soviet Communism. However, more recently, there has been a revival of interest in political engagement, with actions such as the demonstrations against the Iraq War and the Occupy movement. Pawling focuses on a number of key writers who have made significant contributions to critical theory in what can be called the 'spirit of '68', including Sartre, Derrida, Badiou, Jameson and Said. These figures do not necessarily share the same perspective on questions such as the role of the 'subject' and the political relevance of art in cultural struggle; however, Pawling concludes that they do share a key problematic: namely, how to understand the dialectical relationship between the formal imperatives of critical theory and its political conditions of existence.

This collection explores conceptions and practices of democracy of social movement organizations involved in global protest. Focusing on the global justice movement this book shows how they adopt radical new democratic approaches and thus provide a fundamental critique of conventional politics.

Protest is a ubiquitous and richly varied social phenomenon, one that finds expression not only in modern social movements and political organizations but also in grassroots initiatives, individual action, and creative works. It constitutes a distinct cultural domain, one whose symbolic content is regularly deployed by media and advertisers, among other actors. Yet within social movement scholarship, such cultural considerations have been comparatively neglected. Protest Cultures: A Companion dramatically expands the analytical perspective on protest beyond its political and sociological aspects. It combines cutting-edge synthetic essays with concise, accessible case studies on a remarkable array of protest cultures, outlining key literature and future lines of inquiry.

The New Left was founded in 1962, and as a social and political protest movement, it captured the attention of the nation in the Sixties. By 1968, the New Left was marching in unison with hundreds of political action groups to achieve one goal—the end of the war in Vietnam. Under J. Edgar Hoover's direction, the FBI went from an intelligence collection agency during WWII, to an organization that tried to undermine protest movements like the New Left. Hoover viewed the New Left as a threat to the American way of life, so in an enormous effort of questionable legality, the FBI implemented some 285 counter-intelligence (COINTELPRO) actions against the New Left. The purpose of COINTELPRO was to infiltrate, disrupt, and otherwise neutralize the entire movement. In truth, the FBI intended to wage war on the antiwar movement. In this real-life spy story—J. Edgar Hoover and his G-Men, wiretaps, burglaries, misinformation campaigns, informants, and plants—Davis offers a glimpse into the endlessly fascinating world of the Sixties. Kent State, Columbia University, Vietnam Moratorium Day, the 1968 Democratic National Convention, the Cambodian invasion and March Against Death are all examined in this riveting account of the longest youth protest movement in American history. This is the only book devoted entirely to the New Left COINTELPRO, and the first one written after the declassification of more than 6,000 counterintelligence documents that reveal the true nature and extent of the FBI's Assault on the Left.

Gosse, one of the foremost historians of the American postwar left, has crafted an engaging and concise synthetic history of the varied movements and organizations that have been placed under the broad umbrella known as the New Left. As one reader notes, gosse 'has accomplished something difficult and rare, if not altogether unique, in providing a studied and moving account of the full array of protest movements - from civil rights and Black Power, to student and antiwar protest, to women's and gay liberation, to Native American, Asian American, and Puerto Rican activism - that defined the American sixties as an era of powerfully transformative rebellions...His is a 'big-tent' view that shows just how rich and varied 1960s protest was.' In contrast to most other accounts of this subject, the SDS and white male radicals are taken out of the center of the story and placed more toward its margins. A prestigious project from a highly respected historian, The New Left in the United States, 1955-1975 will be a must-read for anyone interested in American politics of the postwar era.

In "Womanpower Unlimited and the Black Freedom Struggle in Mississippi," Tiyi M. Morris provides the first comprehensive examination of the Jackson, Mississippi-based women's organization Womanpower Unlimited. Founded in 1961 by Clarie Collins Harvey, the organization was created initially to provide aid to the Freedom Riders who were unjustly arrested and then tortured in Mississippi jails. Womanpower Unlimited expanded its activism to include programs such as voter registration drives, youth education, and participation in Women Strike for Peace. Womanpower Unlimited proved to be not only a significant organization with regard to civil rights activism in Mississippi but also a spearhead movement for revitalizing black women's social and political activism in the state.
"Womanpower Unlimited" elucidates the role that the group played in sustaining the civil rights movement in Mississippi. Consistent with the recent scholarship that emphasizes the necessity of a bottom-up analysis for attaining a more comprehensive narrative of the civil rights movement, this work broadens our understanding of movement history in general by examining the roles of "local people" as well as the leadership women provided. Additionally, it contributes to a better understanding of how the movement developed in Mississippi by examining some of the lesser-known women upon whom activists, both inside and outside of the state, relied. Black women, and Womanpower specifically, were central to movement successes in Mississippi; and Womanpower's humanist agenda resulted in its having the most diverse agenda of a Mississippi-based civil rights organization.

This book is a study of local grassroots activism in two major political areas, the peace and environmental movements, over a period of five years. Interviews with leaders of 166 different groups in five states (Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, California, and Oregon), supplemented by personal observation and participation in several of those groups are the foundations of this analysis. The major concerns are the components of group and movement successes, both short-run and long-run, and activist group adaptations to change in the larger social and political world in light of political upheaval in Eastern Europe, the Gulf War, and several environmental crises that occurred during the period in question. Finally, Zisk focuses on the growing convergence (and barriers to convergence) of the movements. After examining short run accomplishments, Zisk concludes that most of the groups in both movements are faring poorly: few of their concrete goals are achieved, media attention is poor, and membership growth is problematic. For both movements, the transformational wings (those that press for basic changes, use consensus decision making, have few paid staff members) are not doing so well as the incremental wings (those seeking limited goals, using traditional decision techniques, employing larger staffs). This book should be of interest to students and teachers of political science and sociology.

In this perceptive book, cultural and political theorist Jason M. Adams moves beyond increasingly inadequate accounts of speed and acceleration to reflect upon the temporality of the Occupy Wall Street movement. In doing so, he develops the concept of immediacy - the 'speed-limit' that, today more than ever, is reformatting thought, control, and resistance alike. In the process, Adams mobilizes the work of Paul Virilio, Karl Marx, Hannah Arendt and Gilles Deleuze to rethink the ancient Greek concept of kairos for the contemporary moment.

International labour migration can be characterized in three ways - as human aspiration, tradition, and necessity. For some people, working overseas is a dream. For others, international labour mobility is a tradition. For a great number of people however, international labour migration is an economic necessity. It is the only viable solution to realize their basic human right to a decent life. GMS worker movements to Thailand typify all three characterizations of international labour mobility. While this book focuses on the economic dimensions of international labour emigration, principally from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam to Thailand, it recognizes at the very outset the equal standing of non-economic motivations for migration.

This work examines the environment and events of the spring 1989 Tiananmen Square tragedy. The author argues that the mass movement, which climaxed in Beijing, can be understood only if attention is given to the external environment that provided both opportunities and constraints to the interactions of participating groups, to the shifting participants and their goals and interests, and to the historical and cultural factors which guided the behavior of those participants (on both the student and government sides). Unlike other works on this topic, The Struggle for Tiananmen describes and analyzes the movement from its inception to its end--presenting the entire process, providing information from both the authorities and non-student participants, identifying the interactions between external events and the movement, and placing the particular event in the larger context of social movements.

This work will be of interest to scholars and laymen alike in contemporary history, Chinese studies, sociology, and political science.

Protest is a ubiquitous and richly varied social phenomenon, one that finds expression not only in modern social movements and political organizations but also in grassroots initiatives, individual action, and creative works. It constitutes a distinct cultural domain, one whose symbolic content is regularly deployed by media and advertisers, among other actors. Yet within social movement scholarship, such cultural considerations have been comparatively neglected. Protest Cultures: A Companion dramatically expands the analytical perspective on protest beyond its political and sociological aspects. It combines cutting-edge synthetic essays with concise, accessible case studies on a remarkable array of protest cultures, outlining key literature and future lines of inquiry.

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A comprehensive look at how the 'establishment' responded to the Italian student revolt of 1968. Using oral interviews, media analysis and archival evidence, the book explores the reactions of those who became the frequent targets of student protests - professors, police, activists' parents, the clergy, journalists, lawyers and auto workers.

The demonstrations and occupations that emerged across Europe in 2011-12 struck a chord in public opinion in a way that has not been true for many years. Based on research carried out across the continent, this volume investigates why this is occurring now and what they tell us about the future of the European project.

In this exciting new work, David Boucher and Gary Browning explore Bob Dylan's radical and changing engagement with the "political." The contributions deal with various aspects and periods of Dylan's career, including the early protest ballads, the artistic high-point of his mid-sixties electric period in which his songs question the very notion of ordered collective politics, and present alternative disturbing images of a counter-reality. Finally the book explores the more personal and religious songs on issues of identity, alienation and ethical striving. Whereas in the early protest songs the diagnosis and prognosis did not always give rise to answers, the later religious analyses of the world gone wrong appeared to generate a very clear and simple remedy in Jesus.

Decision making is the oil that greases the wheel of social movement organizing. Done poorly, it derails organizations and coalitions; done well, it advances the movement and may model those changes movements seek to effect in society. Despite its importance, movement decision making has been little studied. Section One makes a singular contribution to the study of social movement decision making through seven focused case studies, followed by a critical commentary. The case studies on decision making cut across a wide breadth of social movement contexts, including Peace Brigades International teams, a feminist bakery collective, Earth First, the NGO Forum on Women, Friends of the Earth, the Tlapanec indigenous movement in Mexico, an on-line strategic voting campaign, and Korean labor movements. The section concludes with Jane Mansbridge's synthesis and critical commentary on the papers, wherein she continues to make her own substantive contributions to the literature on consensus decision making. The three papers in Section Two focus on Northern Ireland, where frustration with inter-community conflict resolution spawned a movement promoting intra-community or 'single tradition' programs. Two chapters provide invaluable comparative studies of the benefits and shortcomings of these counter-movements, while the third paper applies constructive conflict and nonviolent action theories to recent developments in the annual parades disputes. The volume closes with two papers on Native American issues. The first examines an initiative to teach conflict history and build conflict analysis and resolution skills among the Seneca Nation. The final case study of two Native American women's organizations demonstrates how socially constructed identities are critical to movement framing processes and collective actions. With this volume, RSMCC continues its long-standing tradition of publishing cutting edge studies in social movements, conflict resolution, and social change.