Transnational Protest and Global Activism (People, Passions, and Power: Social Movements, Interest Organizations, and the P) [Paperback]

Donatella della Porta (Editor), Sidney Tarrow (Editor), W Lance Bennett (Contributor), Donatella Della Porta (Contributor), Mario Diani (Contributor), Erik Johnson (Contributor), Felix Kolb (Contributor), Doug McAdam (Contributor), John D. McCarthy (Contributor), Christopher Rootes (Contributor), Kathryn Sikkink (Contributor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0742535878 | ISBN-13: 978-0742535879 | Publication Date: September 15, 2004

In this book, two titans of social movement scholarship bring together the best current research on the nexus between the local and the global in translating the global justice movement into action at the grass roots, and vice versa. Using recent cases of transnational contention_from the European Social Forum in Florence to the Argentinean human rights movement and British environmentalists, from movement networks in Bristol and Glasgow to the Zapatistas_the original chapters by distinguished scholars presented in this volume adapt current social movement theory to what appears to be a new cycle of protest developing around the globe.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A very well concieved collection of articles on a still new and largely unexplored phenomenon, in spite of the fact that and increasing number of scholars have started to tackle it in recent years. Transnational Contention and Global Activism brings us a step further on the track set by them. (Mobilization )

Broach[es] with superb aplomb the highly complex issue of transnationalism, specifically among social movements which are already well-known for instituting chains of protest against a world system characterized by obstinate - and inequitable - neo-liberal globalisation…Present[s] top-notch scholarship: the essays, diverse as they are, cohere impeccably and synthesize inter-related themes with enviable precision…a treasure-trove for those seeking a more nuanced understanding of contemporary developments in the area of social movement research. (Political Studies Review )

Broach[es] with superb aplomb the highly complex issue of transnationalism, specifically among social movements which are already well-known for instituting chains of protest against a world system characterized by obstinate - and inequitable - neo-liberal globalisation?Present[s] top-notch scholarship: the essays, diverse as they are, cohere impeccably and synthesize inter-related themes with enviable precision?a treasure-trove for those seeking a more nuanced understanding of contemporary developments in the area of social movement research... (Political Studies Review )

About the Author

Donatella della Porta is professor of sociology at the European University Institute, Florence.
Sidney Tarrow is the Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Government and professor of sociology at Cornell University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (September 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0742535878
• ISBN-13: 978-0742535879
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #835,686 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars overview of academic theory on the global justice movement, June 11, 2005

By 

varmint (Boston, MA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Transnational Protest and Global Activism (People, Passions, and Power: Social Movements, Interest Organizations, and the P) (Paperback)

This book is probably the best overview of academic--particularly sociological--theory on the global justice movement. Indeed, to my knowledge, there is only one other book--Bandy and Smith's /Coalitions Across Borders/, and it focuses mainly on transnational coalition building in the global justice movement; this book, on the other hand, tries to take in all the issues that might be of concern to academic theorists. Like most such collections, it's a mixed bag, with individual chapters varying in quality from three to five stars. There is only one really bad one, Johnson and McCarthy's piece, which uses organziational ecology or organizational population theory, an approach I find to be shallow. The really oustanding chapters are Sikkink's on how nation-states and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs, like the EU and IMF) interact to create complex, multi-level opportunity structures; della Porta's on how global justice activists are forging a new type of activist identity, one that is inclusive, tolerant, and flexible, rather than being narrowly defined; and Bennett's on the two generations of transnational activism, the first organized around professional advocacy groups, the second around voluntary direct action groups, and the tensions between them. Della Porta and Tarrow do a nice job in the final chapter of bringing the strands from the various chapters together to create an overall theoretical picture of this second generation transnational activism. They elaborate on Sikkink's ideas, describing what they call a complex internationalism, that includes the interactions of nation-states, IGOs, and "non-state actors"; they discuss the highly networked, participatory-democratic organization of the global justice and peace movements, and reaffirm della Porta's ideas about flexible identities; and they note that, rather than a global civil society emerging, what we are seeing is the emergence of rooted cosmopolitans--most activism remains locally rooted, but activists are concerned with the state of the world and so join transnational networks. The biggest weakness of this volume is its almost total focus (except in Sikkink's chapter) on the movement in the first world, a long standing problem with social movement theory in sociology. Given the importance of third world movement in the new transnational activism, this is really something prominent scholars like the ones in this volume should do something to address.