Social Movements and Social Classes

Louis Maheu is Professor of Sociology and Vice-Dean of the Graduate Faculty at Université de Montréal. His recent books include La Recomposition du Politique (1991) and Hommage à Marcel Rioux: Sociologie Critique, Création Artistique et Société Contemporaine (editor, 1992)CONTRIBUTORS OUTSIDE THE WESTERN HEMISPHEREMaheu: Social Movements and Social ClassesKlaus Eder Humboldt University Berlin &European University Institute FiesoleAlberto Melucci University of MilanJan Pakulski University of Tasmania HobartChris Pickvance University of KentMaurice Roche University of SheffieldChris Rootes University of KentAlain Touraine CADIS ParisJohn Urry University of LancasterMichel Wieviorka CADIS Paris

• Introduction - Louis MaheuPART ONE: FOUNDATIONS FOR COLLECTIVE ACTIONDoes Social Class Matter in the Study of Social Movements? - Klaus EderA Theory of Middle-Class RadicalismSocial Movements and Class - Jan PakulskiThe Decline of the Marxist ParadigmRacism and Social Movements - Michel WieviorkaThe New Social Movements Revisited - Alberto MelucciReflections on a Sociological MisunderstandingPART TWO: SPACE, POWER AND COLLECTIVE ACTIONSocial Movements in the Transition from State Socialism - Chris PickvanceConvergence or Divergence?Social Movements and the Challenge of Urban Politics - Henri Lustiger-Thaler and Louis MaheuRethinking Class - John UrryPART THREE: COLLECTIVE ACTION: FROM POLITICS TO DEMOCRACYRethinking Citizenship and Social Movements - Maurice RocheThemes in Contemporary Sociology and Neoconservative IdeologyA New Class? The Higher Educated and the New Politics - Chris RootesCollective Action and the Paradigm of Individualism - Pierre HamelDemocracy - Alain TouraineFrom a Politics of Citizenship to a Politics of Recognition

`This book includes the work of twelve authors and many different topics are discussed... The chapters of the book were originally papers presented in Madrid in 1990 at the conference of the International Sociological Association′s Research Committee on Social Movements and Social Classes Research. Since then, the authors have rewritten their contributions, and what is especially interesting is that they have commented on the contributions in the other chapters. This means that most chapters not only present the ideas of the individual authors, but also comment on and engage in a dialogue with the other contributions. In this way the book reveals the variation in the field of social movements and classes and the process has forced the authors to sharpen their arguments. The result is that the book is a presentation of a debate, but it does not provide definite answers. Rather, it mirrors the constant attempts to grasp the different theories and empirical studies of this field′ - Acta Sociologica