Social Movements
An Introduction
Second Edition
By: DONATELLA DELLA PORTA, European University Institute
MARIO DIANI, University of Trento

“Della Porta and Diani have crafted an elegant and expansive volume
that incisively focuses on all the field’s core issues. Using the
global justice movement as the thread that pulls th...

Social Movements is a comprehensive introduction and critical
analysis of collective action in society today. In this new edition,
the authors have updated all chapters with the most recent scientific
literature, expanded on topics such as individual motivations, new
media, public policies, and governance.
Draws on research and empirical work across the social sciences to
address the key questions in this international field.
New edition expands on topics such as individual motivations, new
media, public policies, and governance.
Has been redesigned in a more user-friendly format.

Contents
Preface to the second edition
1. The Study of Social Movements: Recurring Questions, (Partially)
Changing Answers
1.1. Four Core Questions for Social Movement Analysis
1.1.1. Is social change creating the conditions for the emergence of
new movements?
1.1.2. How do we define issues as worthy objects, and actors as
worthy subjects of collective action?
1.1.3. How is collective action possible?
1.1.4. What determines the forms and intensity of collective action?
1.1.5. Are these questions specific of social movement analysis?
1.2. What is Distinctive of Social Movements?
1.2.1. The concept of social movement.
1.2.2. Conflictual and consensual collective action.
1.2.3. Social movements, events, and coalitions.
1.2.4. Social movements and organizational processes.
1.2.5. Social movements and protest
1.3. On This Book
2. Social Changes and Social Movements
2.1 Social Structure, Political Cleavages and Collective Action
2.1.1 Economic change, social fragmentation and movements
2.1.2. Economic globalization and social conflict
2.2 States, markets, and social movements
2.2.1. Territorial boundaries and social conflicts: the
transnationalization of protest
2.2.2. State and classes: the conflicts around the welfare state
2.3 Knowledge, Culture and Conflicts
2.3.1. Shifting boundaries between the public and the private:
2.3.2. Cultures and countercultures
2.3.3. Between the global and the local
2.4. Structural Transformations, New Conflicts, New Classes
2.4.1. Still classes?
2.4.2. New middle classes for new social movements?
2.5 Summary
3. The Symbolic Dimension of Collective Action
3.1. Culture and Action: The Role of Values
3.2. Culture and Action: The Cognitive Perspective
3.2.1. Collective action as cognitive praxis
3.2.2. Interpretative frames and ideology
3.2.3. Sense making activities: linking values and frames
3.3. Problems and Responses
3.4. Summary
4. Collective Action and Identity
4.1 How Does Identity Work?
4.2 Multiple Identities
4.3 Does Identity Facilitate Participation?
4.4 How Is Identity Generated and Reproduced?
4.4.1 Self- and hetero-definitions of identity
4.4.2 Production of identity: symbols, practices, rituals
4.4.3 Identity and the political process
4.5 Summary
5. Individuals, networks, and participation
5.1. Why do People Get Involved in Collective Action? The Role of
Networks
5.2. Do Networks Always Matter?
5.3. Individuals and Organizations
5.3.1 Exclusive affiliations
5.3.2. Multiple affiliations
5.4. Individual participation, movement subcultures, and virtual
networks
5.5 Summary
6. Social Movements and Organizations
6.1. Organizational Dilemmas in Social Movements
6.1.1. Mobilizing people or resources?
6.1.2. Hierarchical or horizontal structures?
6.1.3. Challengers or ‘service providers’?
6.2. Types of social movement organizations
6.2.1. Professional movement organizations
6.2.2. Participatory movement organizations
6.3. How do social movement organizations change?
6.3.1. Patterns of change
6.3.2. Institutional factors and organizational change
6.3.3. Organizational cultures and organizational change
6.3.4. Modernization, technological innovation, and organizational
change
6.4. From movement organizations to social movement networks
6.5 Summary
7. Action Forms, Repertoires and Cycles of Protest
7.1 Protest: A Definition
7.2 Repertoires of Action
7.3. The Logics and Forms of Protest
7.3.1 The logic of numbers
7.3.2 The logic of damage
7.3.3 The logic of bearing witness
7.4 Strategic Options and Protest
7.5 Factors Influencing Repertoire Choice
7.6 The Cross-national Diffusion of Protest
7.7. Cycles of Protest, Protest Wave and Protest Campaigns
7.8. Summary
8. The Policing of Protest and Political Opportunities for Social
Movements
8.1 The Policing of Protest
8.2. Political Institutions and Social Movements
8.3. Prevailing Strategies and Social Movements
8.4. Allies, Opponents and Social Movements
8.4.1. Social movements in a multiorganizational field
8.4.2. Social movements and parties
8.5. Discursive Opportunity and the Media System
8.5.1. Discursive opportunities
8.5.2. Media and movements
8.6 Summary
9. Social Movements and Democracy
9.1 Social Movement Strategies and Their Effects
9.2 Changes in Public Policy
9.3 Social Movements and Procedural Changes
9.4. Social Movement and Democratic Theory
9.5. Social movements and democratization
9.6 Summary
References
Index

About the Authors
Donatella della Porta is Professor of Sociology in the Department of
Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute.
She is the author of Corrupt Exchanges: Actors, Resources, and
Mechanisms of Political Corruption (1999), and Transnational Protest
and Global Activism (2004).
Mario Diani is Professor of Sociology and Director of Graduate
Studies at the University of Trento. He is the coeditor of Beyond
Tocqueville: The Social Capital Debate in Comparative Perspective
(with Bob Edwards and Michael Foley, 2001) and Social Movements and
Networks (with Doug McAdam, 2003)
