Power in Movement

Unlike political or economic institutions, social movements have an elusive power, but one that is no less real. This study surveys the history of the social movement, puts forward a theory of collective action to explain its surges and declines, and offers an interpretation of the power of movement that emphasizes its effects on personal lives, policy reforms and political culture. While covering cultural, organizational and personal sources of movements' power, the book emphasizes the rise and fall of social movements as part of political struggle and as the outcome of changes in political opportunity structure. This second edition has an entirely new chapter, major additions to the bibliography, new illustrative materials in many of the chapters and a new conclusion.

Sidney Tarrow (Ph.D. Berkeley, 1965) is Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Government and Professor of Sociology at Cornell University. His recent books are Dynamics of Contention (with Doug McAdam and Charles Tilly), Contentious Europeans (with Doug Imig), Transnational Protest and Global Activism (co-edited with Donatella della Porta), The New Transnational Activism and Contentious Politics (with Charles Tilly). He is currently researching war, state-building and human rights.