West Germany is generally considered the country where new social movements addressing themes such as ecology, peace, and women's rights found their strongest and most pronounced expression. This book shows how new social movements were shaped by the nature and development of the West German political system and how, in turn, these movements have made an important contribution to the consolidation and deepening of democracy in Germany. Democracy from Below is based on an elaboration of the political process approach to social movements. This perspective emphasizes the constraining and facilitating role of political opportunities provided by established” politics for the mobilization of social movements as well as the embeddedness of individual social movements within broader waves of protest. Koopmans bases his study on new, extensive data on more than 3,000 protest events between 1965 and 1989 and on the characteristics of the most important organizations of the new social movements.The book also has a strong comparative focus, contrasting the West German case to similar data on social movement mobilization in France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Democracy from Below will be of interest not only to students of social movements but also to those interested in comparative politics and contemporary German politics. In addition, social movement activists interested in questions of strategy and tactics will find the book useful.

Democracy From Below: New Social Movements And The Political System In West Germany

Politics & Social Sciences

Koopmans, Ruud

Social Sciences

Westview Press

Contested Citizenship: Immigration and Cultural Diversity in Europe (Volume 25) (Social Movements, Protest and Contention)

From international press coverage of the French government’s attempt to prevent Muslims from wearing headscarves to terrorist attacks in Madrid and the United States, questions of cultural identity and pluralism are at the center of the world’s most urgent events and debates. Presenting an unprecedented wealth of empirical research garnered during ten years of a cross-cultural project, Contested Citizenship addresses these fundamental issues by comparing collective actions by migrants, xenophobes, and antiracists in Germany, Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Revealing striking cross-national differences in how immigration and diversity are contended by different national governments, these authors find that how citizenship is constructed is the key variable defining the experience of Europe’s immigrant populations. Contested Citizenship provides nuanced policy recommendations and challenges the truism that multiculturalism is always good for immigrants. Even in an age of European integration and globalization, the state remains a critical actor in determining what points of view are sensible and realistic—and legitimate—in society. Ruud Koopmans is professor of sociology at Free University, Amsterdam. Paul Statham is reader in political communications at the University of Leeds. Marco Giugni is a researcher and teacher of political science at the University of Geneva. Florence Passy is assistant professor of political science at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Giugni, Marco

Statham, Paul

Passy, Florence

Univ. of Minnesota Press

From international press coverage of the French government’s attempt to prevent Muslims from wearing headscarves to terrorist attacks in Madrid and the United States, questions of cultural identity and pluralism are at the center of the world’s most urgent events and debates. Presenting an unprecedented wealth of empirical research garnered during ten years of a cross-cultural project, Contested Citizenship addresses these fundamental issues by comparing collective actions by migrants, xenophobes, and antiracists in Germany, Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Revealing striking cross-national differences in how immigration and diversity are contended by different national governments, these authors find that how citizenship is constructed is the key variable defining the experience of Europe’s immigrant populations. Contested Citizenship provides nuanced policy recommendations and challenges the truism that multiculturalism is always good for immigrants. Even in an age of European integration and globalization, the state remains a critical actor in determining what points of view are sensible and realistic—and legitimate—in society. Ruud Koopmans is professor of sociology at Free University, Amsterdam. Paul Statham is reader in political communications at the University of Leeds. Marco Giugni is a researcher and teacher of political science at the University of Geneva. Florence Passy is assistant professor of political science at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Although living conditions have improved throughout history, protest, at least in the last few decades, seems to have increased to the point of becoming a normal phenomenon in modern societies. Contributors to this volume examine how and why this is the case and argue that although problems such as poverty, hunger, and violations of democratic rights may have been reduced in advanced Western societies, a variety of other problems and opportunities have emerged and multiplied the reasons and possibilities for protest. Acts of Dissent: New Developments in the Study of Protest examines some of those problems, progressing from methodological issues, to discussions of the part that the mass media plays in protest, finally to several case studies of protests in different contexts.

Acts of Dissent: New Developments in the Study of Protest

Rucht, Dieter

Niedhardt, Friedhelm

Philosophy

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Acts of Dissent

First published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor &amp; Francis, an informa company.

New Social Movements In Western Europe: A Comparative Analysis

Giugni, Marco G.

Duyvendak, Jan Willem

Hanspeter, Kriesi

Sociology

Routledge

Das verfallene Haus des Islam: Die religiösen Ursachen von Unfreiheit, Stagnation und Gewalt

Beck C. H.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Koopmans, Ruud. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Koopmans, Ruud