This work examines variations among nations in the wide array of initiatives labour unions and labour movements are taking to strengthen themselves and recruit new members. Moving beyond previous research on the factors leading to union decline, the international group of scholars who have contributed to this volume present a research agenda on the many initiatives unions are taking - and the different social, economic, and political challenges they face in several world regions, as labour movements endeavor to revitalize themselves. These revitalizing initiatives include changing labor leadership and membership organizing strategies; "social movement unionism"; broadening the range of services provided to union members; and pursuing political and legal reform that achieves freedom of association. The contemporary cases of labour revitalization in this volume have occurred in Australia, Brazil, Germany, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Venezuela. The research agenda presented here rests on the conceptualization of labour revitalization as "socially embedded action," or strategic action taken by labor unions to strengthen themselves by redefining their relationships with workers, employers and states. Each of the three parts of "Labor Revitalization" addresses labour's changing relationships with workers, employers, and states, respectively.

When women won the vote in the United States in 1920 they were still routinely barred from serving as jurors, but some began vigorous campaigns for a place in the jury box. This book tells the story of how women mobilized in fifteen states to change jury laws so that women could gain this additional right of citizenship. Some campaigns quickly succeeded; others took substantially longer. The book reveals that when women strategically adapted their tactics to the broader political environment, they were able to speed up the pace of jury reform, while less strategic movements took longer. A comparison of the more strategic women's jury movements with those that were less strategic shows that the former built coalitions with other women's groups, took advantage of political opportunities, had past experience in seeking legal reforms and confronted tensions and even conflict within their ranks in ways that bolstered their action.

Social researchers in the past have paid surprisingly little theoretical or empirical attention to movement alliances. "Strategic Alliances" provides a pioneering set of in-depth analyses of the circumstances leading to these organizational alliances. Contributors investigate coalition dynamics among social movements, including antiwar, environmental, and labor movements, as well as ethnic organizations and women's groups. While many of the essays examine coalition formation in the United States, others consider coalitions in Britain, the former East Germany, East Asia, and Latin America.
Contributors: Paul Almeida, Texas A&M U; Elizabeth Borland, College of New Jersey; Daniel B. Cornfield, Vanderbilt U; Catherine Corrigall-Brown, U of British Columbia; Mario Diani, U of Trento; Katja M. Guenther, UC Riverside; Larry Isaac, Vanderbilt U; Isobel Lindsay, Biggar, Scotland; David S. Meyer, UC Irvine; Brian Obach, SUNY New Paltz; Dina G. Okamoto, UC Davis; Christine Petit, UC Riverside; Derrick Purdue, U of the West of England; Ellen Reese, UC Riverside; Benita Roth, SUNY Binghamton; Suzanne Staggenborg, U of Pittsburgh; Dawn Wiest, U of Memphis.

When women won the vote in the United States in 1920 they were still routinely barred from serving as jurors, but some began vigorous campaigns for a place in the jury box. This book tells the story of how women mobilized in fifteen states to change jury laws so that women could gain this additional right of citizenship. Some campaigns quickly succeeded; others took substantially longer. The book reveals that when women strategically adapted their tactics to the broader political environment, they were able to speed up the pace of jury reform, while less strategic movements took longer. A comparison of the more strategic women's jury movements with those that were less strategic shows that the former built coalitions with other women's groups, took advantage of political opportunities, had past experience in seeking legal reforms and confronted tensions and even conflict within their ranks in ways that bolstered their action.

Frames of Protest brings together important empirical research and theoretical essays by leading sociologists, political scientists, and media specialists that focus on social movement frames and framing practices. Frames are new ways of understanding political and social relations that emphasize injustice and the need for change. As such, they are crucial for the development of social movements and protest. Frames of Protest is the only book to focus exclusively on this major research perspective in social movement and protest studies. Thirteen chapters encompass the major themes in the framing perspective to offer a state-of-the-art review. Three chapters present evidence for the determining influence of framing in social movement mobilization. Next, framing activities by the state and the mass media are analyzed. Then, two research reports examine the effect of political opportunities on framing-in Poland under the Communists and in New York City's ethnic politics. Several chapters by leading theorists present a lively debate about the relationship of ideologies to collective action frames. The book closes with a hands-on discussion about analyzing textual materials and interview transcripts to do frame analysis that lends itself to longitudinal and cross-case comparisons.

What are the contemporary trends in workplace restructuring and the sociological impact on workers? lives? Around what concepts will work be organized and groups and individuals motivated in their work into the new century?

To give you definition and answers to these contemporary questions, the editors of the sociological quarterly, Work and Occupations, assembled Working in Restructured Workplaces. It addresses contradictory influences in contemporary workplace restructuring, its impact on workers? lives, and the direction and nature of future changes in the workplace. This authentic collection of sociological thought and research consists of previous works in Work and Occupations and some commissioned specifically for this book to focus on the nature, causes, and consequences of workplace restructuring.

The editors introduce a new concept of "workplace restructuring" to broaden your perspective and then assess implications for workers and their lives. The chapters address four major themes:

• Reconfiguring workplace status hierarchies
• Casualization of employment relationships
• Restructuring and worker marginalization
• Comparative labor responses to global restructuring

The last two chapters chart new research agendas on the boundaries and durability of workplace restructuring.