Social Movements in Politics

"Social Movements in Politics is a tour de force and essential reading for all interested in protest and revolution. Advancing literature on protest and revolution, this book breaks new ground through examining the internal conflicts and dialectical processes in the transformation of social movements. Zirakzadeh's work is a refreshing and innovative intervention that exposes multiple tensions that do not diminish the power of social movements in transforming society - but are integral to them." - Immanuel Ness, Professor of Political Science, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York and editor ofEncyclopedia of American Social Movements"With a wonderful grasp of local detail and a comprehensive view of social movement theories to guide him, Zirakzadeh integrates the analysis of social movements into a broad vision of political, social and economic change. He provides a close look at four of the most internationally visible movements - Germany s Greens, Poland s Solidarity, Peru s Shining Path, and Mexico s Zapatistas - that have led significant political challenges to their national governments. The focus on such prominent and internationally important cases is unique as is the analytical balance Zirakzadeh strikes between the analysis of their distinctive political opportunities and strategic and ideological choices as movements. The wide sweep of coverage along with riveting detail about the personalities, factions and internal debates in each case offers outstanding evidence with which to debate the merits of different theories. Zirakzadeh is remarkably even-handed in presenting and evaluating these theoretical approaches himself, and students of social movements will enjoy debating each of these intriguing cases." - Myra Marx Ferree, University of Wisconsin - Madison"A splendid introduction to the study of social movements, this is written with delightful clarity. The four richly researched case studies which provide the book's core offer sufficient materials for readers to argue for themselves. The author's final call for a 'fourth generation' of theories will meet with wide assent." - Colin Barker, Manchester Metropolitan University"This book is the magnum opus of a scholar who has for many years been publishing seminal works on problems arising from the ethnic heterogeneity of states. Only one with such a background could produce a volume so rich in its variety of source-material and so penetrating in its analyses. Innovations include a two-fold classification of ethnic groups predicated upon whether they are living within or without their ethnic homeland, a classification permitting the author to transcend the cleavage between ethnonationalism and ethnicity; a tripartite division of states into mature democratic, post-communist, and emerging categories; and, for each of these three categories, a combination of a wealth of illustrative data drawn from several states, further illustrated by an in-depth, single-state case study. Truly an important contribution to the literature." -