This book examines the development of the language of social movements, revolutions and terrorism from the seventeenth century to the present.

Sidney Tarrow is Maxwell M. Upson Professor Emeritus of Government at Cornell University and a visiting professor at Cornell University Law School. His recent books include a collection of essays, Strangers at the Gates: States and Social Movements in Contentious Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2012) and a revised and expanded edition of Power in Movement (Cambridge University Press, 2011). He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and past president of the Comparative Politics Section of the American Political Science Association. He is currently completing a book on states, wars and movements.

Introduction; 1. Repertoires of contentious language; 2. Revolutions in words; 3. Words at work; 4. Race and rights talk; 5. Gender words; 6. Citizens and nations; 7. Love and hatred; 8. Conclusions.