The Gay Liberation Front founded in 1970 urged gay men and gay women to unite around a simple set of demands among which were calls for an end to discrimination against homosexuals in employment, in sex education, in the age of consent and in being treated as sick by the medical establishment. GLF saw itself as a people's movement for gays, socialist by virtue of its demand for social change, and revolutionary in recognizing the rights of other oppressed minorities to determine the fight for their own demands. All history is personal. The author of this political memoir is the first participant of the Front to write a history of the lesbians and gay men who joined Gay Liberation and through a process of Coming Out and radicalization initiated an anarchic campaign that permanently changed the face of this country.

Gillion demonstrates the direct influence that political protest behavior has on Congress, the presidency and the Supreme Court, illustrating that protest is a form of democratic responsiveness that government officials have used, and continue to draw on, to implement federal policies. Focusing on racial and ethnic minority concerns, this book shows that the context of political protest has served as a signal for political preferences. As pro-minority rights behavior grew and anti-minority rights actions declined, politicians learned from minority protest and responded when they felt emboldened by stronger informational cues stemming from citizens' behavior, a theory referred to as the 'information continuum'. Although the shift from protest to politics as a political strategy has opened the door for institutionalized political opportunity, racial and ethnic minorities have neglected a powerful tool to illustrate the inequalities that exist in contemporary society.

This timely and important study by leading academics is a comparative study of the environmental movement's successes and failures in four very different states: the USA, UK, Germany and Norway. It covers the entire sweep of the modern environmental era beginning in 1970. The analysis also explains the role played by social movements in making modern societies more deeply democratic, and yields insights into the strategic choices of environmental movements as they decide on what terms to engage, enter, or resist the state.

The non-violent protests of civil rights activists and anti-nuclear campaigners during the 1960s helped to redefine Western politics. But where did they come from? Sean Scalmer uncovers their history in an earlier generation's intense struggles to understand and emulate the activities of Mahatma Gandhi. He shows how Gandhi's non-violent protests were the subject of widespread discussion and debate in the USA and UK for several decades. Though at first misrepresented by Western newspapers, they were patiently described and clarified by a devoted group of cosmopolitan advocates. Small groups of Westerners experimented with Gandhian techniques in virtual anonymity and then, on the cusp of the 1960s, brought these methods to a wider audience. The swelling protests of later years increasingly abandoned the spirit of non-violence, and the central significance of Gandhi and his supporters has therefore been forgotten. This book recovers this tradition, charts its transformation, and ponders its abiding significance.

This work captures the dynamism of the West-African student movement in Britain, and the struggle to articulate a coherent, anti-colonial politics. The emergence of the West African Students Union (WASU) and its alliances with influential Labour MPs, the Communist Party of Great Britain, as well as organizations in Africa, paved the way for the successful independence movements to influence so many African states. Hakim Adi documents the achievements of the student movement in overcoming racism and the "colour bar", and shows how the hostility of British society served only to create a sense of unity, which allowed WASU the ideological and political space to question and, ultimately, to expose the illegitimacy of colonial rule. More than an account of Africans within the context of British soceity, the book emphasizes the effects these pioneers have had on a world stage. Hakim Adi is the author of "The History of African and Caribbean Communities" and "African Migrations", and co-author of "The 1945 Manchester Pan African Congress Revisited".

Hardly a day goes by without South Africans going on a rampage over the provision of basic municipal services such as water, electricity, sanitation and other municipal obligations. This book connects the critical issue of community protests to the equally precarious issue of political trust in local governance in South Africa by using comparative analysis of grassroots activism in predominantly black communities and predominantly white communities.

Many contemporary social movements observe, copy, learn from, coordinate and cooperate with other movements abroad, and some mobilise to influence processes of global governance. Can these transnational dimensions of mobilization transform the territorial scale of political debate on issues of common concern in public spheres? In contrast to many existing studies, which focus on the media as carriers of public sphere transnationalisation, this book presents a theoretical and empirical exploration of the role of social movements in such processes. As 'arenas' or subaltern counterpublics in themselves, social movements may provide a setting in which activists come to frame claims in a comparative manner, interact with activists from other countries, frame problems as matters of transnational concerns or consider themselves members of transnational communities. As 'actors' social movements may contribute to the transnational transformation of public spheres by directing claims to political authorities beyond the state, claiming to represent transnational constituencies, and focus on similar issues and use similar frames of reference as movements abroad. The book's case studies addressing efforts to build transnational social movements and transnational dimensions of anti-austerity and prodemocracy movements in Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey and Ireland provide contemporary empirical illustrations of such processes at work. The chapters were originally published in a special issue of the Journal of Civil Society.

The Answer Is Still No is an important, urgent book that compiles interviews with people who live along the route of the proposed Enbridge pipeline in Northern British Columbia. The oil pipeline and supertankers - linking the tar sands of Alberta to the demand of the growing Asian market - are a key component of Canada's strategy of natural resource extraction. But for the people living along the proposed pipeline route, Enbridge poses a massive environmental risk, which threatens their way of life. This edited collection takes the passionate words and voices of twelve citizens and activists and results in one powerful position when it comes to blind economic development at the expense of our environment and communities: The answer is still "no." "The oil and gas industry has wanted into the west coast for decades. This is an ongoing struggle between the people who live here and have access to the marine resources now, the fish, and the industry, which wants in either for tanker traffic or offshore drilling. The government is on the oil industry side and they implement policies to weaken us." - Luanne Roth, Prince Rupert "[There is] is a great saying: 'If we don't speak for the animals, the fish and the birds, who will?' Simple, very simple, very to the point. And how could we give up something that our great-great-grandchildren will ask us one day 'Why don't we have this anymore? Why didn't you stop this then?' We don't have a right to let that happen." - John Ridsdale, Hereditary Chief Na'Moks, Office of the Wet'suwet'en

Try This at Home! is a practical, no-nonsense guide for individuals and grassroots groups on how to pass laws and policies that protect lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals from discrimination. Written by the director of the Lesbian and Gay Rights Project of the ACLU, the book suggests strategies to use at the state and local government levels, and at private institutions—including universities, corporations, banks, and social service organizations. The book includes information on: Building support in the lesbian and gay community Designing your campaign organization Developing an endorsement strategy Building relationships with the media Writing and negotiating policy Lobbying Domestic partnership policies Written in response to the hundreds of requests for assistance Coles has received, Try This at Home! also contains anecdotes from those who have helped enact pro-gay policies, sidebars on what works and what doesn’t, and appendixes with the actual wording Coles recommends for gay-friendly amendments to all manner of policies and legislation.

Andrew Graystone is an everyday activist who believes in the power of tiny acts to change the world. He is the person whose image went viral when, after the mass shooting in the Christchurch mosque, he stood outside the mosque in his Manchester neighbourhood with a cardboard sign saying 'I'll watch while you pray'. Faith, Hope and Mischief tells funny, prophetic and powerful stories of tiny acts of rebellion Andrew has carried out, alongside arresting reflections on what it means to live in faith and hope. His stories delight and challenge in equal measure, showing how the kingdom of God turns up in all kinds of ways and how small things make a big difference. His stories encourage readers to take risks, make holy mischief, poke fun at the over-mighty, and believe that despite evidence to the contrary, the world's story is going to end well. This is a manual of everyday activism, a wellspring of wit and wisdom for days when hope is hard to come by, and an inspiration for anyone who feels powerless to make a difference.

Contents:
Preface 1. Discovering Spirit in the Sixties 2. Catholic Worker Personalism 3. The Beat of Personalism 4. Civil Rights Personalism 5. Liberated Personalism 6. Student Personalism 7. The Vietnamization of Personalism 8. Countercultural Personalism 9. Epilogue Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

During May 1968, students and workers in France united in the biggest strike and the largest mass movement in French history. Protesting capitalism, American imperialism, and Gaullism, 9 million people from all walks of life, from shipbuilders to department store clerks, stopped working. The nation was paralyzed--no sector of the workplace was untouched. Yet, just thirty years later, the mainstream image of May '68 in France has become that of a mellow youth revolt, a cultural transformation stripped of its violence and profound sociopolitical implications.
Kristin Ross shows how the current official memory of May '68 came to serve a political agenda antithetical to the movement's aspirations. She examines the roles played by sociologists, repentant ex-student leaders, and the mainstream media in giving what was a political event a predominantly cultural and ethical meaning. Recovering the political language of May '68 through the tracts, pamphlets, and documentary film footage of the era, Ross reveals how the original movement, concerned above all with the question of equality, gained a new and counterfeit history, one that erased police violence and the deaths of participants, removed workers from the picture, and eliminated all traces of anti-Americanism, anti-imperialism, and the influences of Algeria and Vietnam. "May '68 and Its Afterlives" is especially timely given the rise of a new mass political movement opposing global capitalism, from labor strikes and anti-McDonald's protests in France to the demonstrations against the World Trade Organization in Seattle.

Jacek Kurczewski synthesizes empirical evidence and theoretical analysis of the transition to democracy and the rule of law to demonstrate the resurrection of rights in Poland. He raises the question of whether the Polish experience was unique, or if it was merely a manifestation of the common problems affecting most Eastern European societies in the last quarter of the twentieth century. From a detailed analysis of day-to-day rule-making to the study of internal democracy within Solidarity, the author makes a compelling case for the role of deep-rooted social values and the rise of a middle class in bringing about the transformation of Polish society.

This book breaks new ground in examining for the first time the history of pacifism in inter-war France. Norman Ingram sets out to define the contours of the French peace movement, to explore its organization, tactics, and intellectual content, and to place it in the broader context of French political culture in the years between the two world wars. Based particularly on hitherto untapped primary sources, The Politics of Dissent traces the development of French pacifism from its nineteenth-century roots. Dr Ingram analyses the intertwining of three strands of dissent: over the origins of the First World War and the thesis of unique German war guilt; over the nature of contemporary French political society; and over the belief that another war would spell the end of western civilization. He also explores the nature and development of feminist pacifism in the inter-war period. His comprehensive and scholarly analysis reveals that, unlike the primarily ethical or religious thinking which underpinned the Anglo-American peace movement, the nature of French pacifism was essentially political, with some elements prepared even to accept violence as a means to a desirable end, especially in response to the threat of incipient fascism.

'He changed the course of history' Barack Obama 'Lightning makes no sound until it strikes' This is the momentous story of the Civil Rights movement, told by one of its most powerful and eloquent voices. Here Martin Luther King, Jr. recounts the pivotal events in the city of Birmingham, Alabama in 1963 that propelled his non-violent campaign for racial justice from a movement of lunch counter sit-ins and prayer meetings to a phenomenon that 'rocked the richest, most powerful nation to its foundations'. As inspiring and resonant as it was upon publication, Why We Can't Wait is both a unique historical document, and an enduring testament to one man's wise, courageous and endlessly hopeful vision.

This book traces the mobilization process leading up to the January 25 Uprising, and furthers our understanding of the largely unexpected diffusion of protest during this Egyptian Revolution. Focusing on the role of the so-called "Cairo-based political opposition," this study strongly suggests a need to pay closer attention to the complexity and contingent nature of such large-scale protest episodes. Building on interviews with activists, employees of NGOs in the human rights advocacy sector, and journalists, this in-depth single case study reveals how different movement organizations in the Egyptian prodemocracy movement had long, and largely unsuccessfully, tried to mobilize support for socio-political change in the country. Against this backdrop, the book illustrates how a coalition of activists sought to organize a protest event against police brutality in early 2011. The resulting protests on January 25 surprised not only the regime of Hosni Mubarak, but also the organizers.

An examination of Chartist democracy viewed 'from below' Considers which groups were more and less vocal in the movement, how political identity intertwined with craft, ethnicity, gender and class. Questions myths, memories, and identities and will appeal to students of history, sociology and culture Challenges the approach of Gareth Stedman-Jones, Patrick Joyce and James Vernon This study explores the development and decline of Chartism as a coherent political identity between 1830 and 1860 and illustrates the creation of Chartist identity from the perspective of plebeian intellectuals and activists in Ashton-under-Lyne and other militant localities of Greater Manchester and Lancashire.

A Must-Read Book of 2020 - TIME 'Should be read around the world.' Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist 'Garza is ferociously smart and laser-focused... her passion is infectious.' Guardian _______________ Black Lives Matter began as a hashtag when Alicia Garza wrote what she calls 'a love letter to Black people' on Facebook. But hashtags don't build movements, she tells us. People do. Interwoven with Garza's experience of life as a Black woman, The Purpose of Power is the story of how she responded to the persistent message that Black lives are of less value than white lives by galvanizing people to create change. It's an insight into grass roots organizing to deliver basic needs - affordable housing, workplace protections, access to good education - to those locked out of the economy by racism. It is an attempt not only to make sense of where Black Lives Matter came from but also to understand the possibilities that Black Lives Matter and movements like it hold for our collective futures. Ultimately, it's an appeal to hearts and minds, demanding that we think about our privileges and prejudices and ask how we might contribute to the change we want to see in the world. _______________ 'Alicia Garza combines immense wisdom with political courage to inspire a new generation of activists, dreamers and leaders... People like Alicia have been speaking up for decades. If we want to turn protest into substantive change, it's about time we finally listened.' David Lammy, MP 'Insightful, compelling and necessary.' Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy

Drawing on a wide range of social science disciplines and approaches, each chapter in this book offers a comprehensive analysis of social protest, political dissent and collective action. The distinguished scholars contributing to the book discuss some of the key theoretical and methodological issues in social protest research, and analyse recent instances of collective dissent around the globe, ranging from the 15M movement in Spain, to the 2011 Salford riots in the UK, to Pro-Palestinian activism in Jerusalem. The result of these contributions is a sophisticated and multifaceted collection that enriches our understanding of why, when, and how groups of people decide to act collectively in order to pursue political change. The book is a timely testament to the vitality of the field. This book was originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Social Science.

"In your country," Ignacio Martin-Baro remarked to a North American colleague, "it's publish or perish. In ours, it's publish "and" perish." In November 1989 a Salvadoran death squad extinguished his eloquent voice, raised so often and so passionately against oppression in his adopted country. A Spanish-born Jesuit priest trained in psychology at the University of Chicago, Martin-Baro devoted much of his career to making psychology speak to the community as well as to the individual. This collection of his writings, the first in English translation, clarifies Martin-Baro's importance in Latin American psychology and reveals a major force in the field of social theory.

Gathering essays from an array of professional journals, this volume introduces readers to the questions and concerns that shaped Martin-Baro's thinking over several decades: the psychological dimensions of political repression, the impact of violence and trauma on child development and mental health, the use of psychology for political ends, religion as a tool of ideology, and defining the "real" and the "normal" under conditions of state-sponsored violence and oppression, among others. Though grounded in the harsh realities of civil conflict in Central America, these essays have broad relevance in a world where political and social turmoil determines the conditions of daily life for so many. In them we encounter Martin-Baro's humane, impassioned voice, reaffirming the essential connections among mental health, human rights, and the struggle against injustice. His analysis of contemporary social problems, and of the failure of the social sciences to address those problems, permits us to understand not only thesubstance of his contribution to social thought but also his lifelong commitment to the campesinos of El Salvador.

The young generation aren't apathetic. We're disenfranchised, under or unemployed, insecure and anxious. But we're also angry. We know there are alternatives to the political consensus, but voices calling for comprehensive radical changes are ignored. We urgently need new forms of collective organisation. In the run up to the 2015 General Election, this third book in the Radical Future series looks at young peoples' resistance to what passes for politics. Mainstream politics has failed the young: our political system is fundamentally bankrupt. We have much to stand against, but little to vote for. The coalition government openly prioritises economic gain for the few above the lives of the many, allowing UKIP to repurpose frustration from rising inequality into racist bigotry. Instead of providing structural opposition, the Labour Party tear themselves apart in their failure to do anything different. Growing numbers identify with the Left, but the institutions that once supported it are old, stagnant, and sectarian. When we do manage to create mass resistance, we come up against the state through the police: physically and legally. It's easy to lose the belief we can create change. In this climate, the vital protest movements of recent years seem long gone. The message is clear: the neoliberals have won. In our third book, on the cusp of an election that feels like an irrelevance, the Radical Future collective take up this thread. Each author's chapter seeks to re-engage with radical alternative politics: values like social justice, liberation and collectivity. Bringing together contributors from different fields and perspectives means that we don't all argue for the same thing. But the question that we are all asking is: How can we fight back?

The massacre of Algerian demonstrators by the Paris police on the night of 17 October 1961 is one of the most contested events in contemporary French history. This book provides a multi-layered investigation of the repression through a critical examination of newly opened archives, oral sources, the press and contemporary political movements and debates. The roots of violence are traced back to counter-insurgency techniques developed by the French military in North Africa and introduced into Paris to crush the independence movement among Algerian migrant workers. The study shows how and why this event was rapidly expunged from public visibility in France, but was kept alive by immigrant and militant minorities, to resurface in a dramatic form after the 1980s. Through this case-study the authors explore both the dynamics of state terror as well as the complex memorial processes by which these events continue to inform and shape post-colonial society.

From spray-painted slogans in Senegal to student uprisings in South Africa, twenty-first century Africa has seen an explosion of protests and social movements. But why? Protests flourish amidst an emerging middle class whose members desire political influence and possess the money, education, and political autonomy to effectively launch movements for democratic renewal. In contrast with pro-democracy protest leaders, rank-and-file protesters live at a subsistence level and are motivated by material concerns over any grievance against a ruling regime. Through extensive field research, Lisa Mueller shows that middle-class political grievances help explain the timing of protests, while lower-class material grievances explain the participation. By adapting a class-based analysis to African cases where class is often assumed to be irrelevant, Lisa Mueller provides a rigorous yet accessible explanation for why sub-Saharan Africa erupted in unrest at a time of apparent economic prosperity.

Activists and politicians have long recognized the power of a good story to move people to action. In early 1960 four black college students sat down at a whites-only lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and refused to leave. Within a month sit-ins spread to thirty cities in seven states. Student participants told stories of impulsive, spontaneous action--this despite all the planning that had gone into the sit-ins. "It was like a fever," they said.
Francesca Polletta's "It Was Like a Fever "sets out to account for the power of storytelling in mobilizing political and social movements. Drawing on cases ranging from sixteenth-century tax revolts to contemporary debates about the future of the World Trade Center site, Polletta argues that stories are politically effective not when they have clear moral messages, but when they have complex, often ambiguous ones. The openness of stories to interpretation has allowed disadvantaged groups, in particular, to gain a hearing for new needs and to forge surprising political alliances. But popular beliefs in America about storytelling as a genre have also hurt those challenging the status quo.
A rich analysis of storytelling in courtrooms, newsrooms, public forums, and the United States Congress, "It Was Like a Fever" offers provocative new insights into the dynamics of culture and contention.

By focusing on the less turbulent years in between the social upheavals of the Paris Commune of 1871 and the 1848 Revolution, Gould reveals that while class played a pivotal role in 1848, it was neighbourhood solidarity that was a decisive organizing force in 1871. Baron Haussmann's massive urban renovation projects between 1852 and 1868 dispersed workers from Paris' centre to newly annexed districts on the outskirts of the city. Residence rather than occupation quickly became the new basis of social solidarity. Drawing on evidence derived from trial documents, marriage certificates, reports of police spies and the popular press, Gould demonstrates that this fundamental rearrangement in the patterns of social life made possible a neighbourhood insurgent movement; whereas the insurgents of 1848 fought and died in defence of their status as workers, those of 1871 did so as members of a besieged urban community.