Understanding Social Movements: Theories from the Classical Era to the Present

by Buechler,Steven M.

• ISBN13: 9781594519161
• ISBN10: 1594519161
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2011-07-30
• Publisher: ROUTLEDGE

Summary

In thirteen succinct chapters, Buechler traces movement theories from the classical era of sociology to the most recent examples of transnational activism. He identifies the socio-historical context, central concepts, and guiding logic of diverse movement theories, with emphasis on: Comparisons of Marx and Lenin; Weber and Michels; and Durkheim and LeBon The Chicago School of the inter-war period The political-sociological approaches of the 1950s The varieties of strain and breakdown theories at the dawn of the 1960s Major paradigm shifts caused by the cascade of 1960s social movements Critiques, debates, and proposed syntheses dominating the turn of the 21st century Recent trends (such as cyberactivism and transnational movements) and their theoretical implications

Author Biography

Steven M. Buechler is Professor of Sociology at Minnesota State University. His previous books include Critical Sociology (Paradigm, 2008) and Social Movements in Advanced Capitalism (Oxford, 2000).

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Classical Approaches	p. 1
Marx and Lenin	p. 9
The Context	p. 9
The Alienation of Labor	p. 11
The Labor Theory of Value	p. 12
Surplus Value and Exploitation	p. 13
Contradictions and Crises	p. 15
Class Formation	p. 17
Lenin's Ghost	p. 19
Lessons from Marx	p. 21
Weber and Michels	p. 25
The Context	p. 25
The Protestant Ethic	p. 27
The Science of Sociology	p. 29
Types of Authority	p. 30
Implications for Social Movements	p. 33
Michels's Contributions	p. 35
The Weberian Legacy	p. 37
Durkheim and Le Bon	p. 41
The Context	p. 41
The Division of Labor	p. 43
The Sociology of Suicide	p. 45
The Role of Religion	p. 47
Implications for Movements	p. 49
Le Bon's Crowd	p. 52
Durkheim's Legacy	p. 53
Traditional Theories
The Two Chicago Schools	p. 59
The Context	p. 59
Park and Burgess	p. 60
Blumer's Collective Behavior	p. 63
The Context Revisited	p. 66
Turner and Killian	p. 67
Other Exemplars	p. 70
Conclusion	p. 72
Political Sociology and Political Movements	p. 75
The Context	p. 75
A European Import	p. 77
Lipset's Political Sociology	p. 80
Confronting Totalitarianism	p. 83
On Dictatorship and Democracy	p. 87
Conclusion	p. 89
Strain and Deprivation Models	p. 91
The Context	p. 91
Chicago Revisited	p. 93
Relative Deprivation	p. 95
Smelser's Functionalist Approach	p. 98
Later Exemplars	p. 101
Conclusion	p. 104
Paradigm Shifts
Resource Mobilization Approaches	p. 109
The Context	p. 109
Early Strands of Resource Mobilization	p. 111
The Consolidation (and Fracturing) of a New Paradigm	p. 116
The Paradigm Elaborated	p. 120
Conclusion	p. 124
Political Process Theory	p. 125
The Context	p. 125
Tilly's Analysis	p. 127
MaAdam's Model	p. 132
Tarrow's Embellishments	p. 136
Conclusion	p. 139
Framing and Social Construction	p. 141
The Context	p. 141
Politicizing Discontent	p. 143
Framing Tasks	p. 146
Movements and Media	p. 150
The Social Construction of Protest	p. 153
Conclusion	p. 156
New Social Movement Theories	p. 157
The Context	p. 157
Some Major Themes	p. 159
European Exemplars and Debates	p. 162
Melucci's Analysis	p. 167
Conclusion	p. 171
Recent Trends
Alternatives, Critiques, and Synthesis?	p. 177
The Context	p. 177
Some Alternative Theoretical Threads	p. 178
Paradigmatic Debates and Critiques	p. 184
An Attempted Synthesis	p. 188
Conclusion	p. 191
Contentious Dynamics and Passionate Politics	p. 193
The Context	p. 194
Dynamics of Contention	p. 195
Critiques and Permutations	p. 199
Bringing Culture Back In	p. 202
Passionate Politics	p. 205
Conclusion	p. 208
New Directions	p. 211
The Context	p. 211
Structural Permutations	p. 213
Cultural Embellishments	p. 216
Synthesis 2.0?	p. 218
Movements in Cyberspace	p. 220
Transnational Activism	p. 223
Conclusion	p. 227
Epilogue	p. 229
References	p. 223
Index	p. 249
About the Author	p. 259
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