Social movements are not only a potential challenge to
societies, they also challenge social theory. This volume looks at social
movements and social movement research through the lens of different social
theories. What can social movement studies learn from these theories? And: What
can these theories learn from the analysis of social movements? From this
double vantage point, the book discusses the theories of Michel Foucault,
Pierre Bourdieu, Niklas Luhmann, Jeffrey Alexander, and Judith Butler, as well
as rational choice theory, relational sociology, and organizational
neo-institutionalism.

Paths of Innovation in Social Movement Research
Theory.- Discourse, Power and Governmentality. Social Movement Research with and
beyond Foucault.- Social Movements and the Rationality of Choice.- Bourdieu Meets Social Movement.- Social Movements and Sociological Systems Theory.- Inequality,
Inclusion, and Protest. Jeffrey
Alexander's Theory of the Civil Sphere.- Social Movements
and Neo-Institutionalism. A Fruitful
Merger?.- Judith Butler and the Politics of
Protest.- Networks, Interaction, and Conflict. A
Relational Sociology of Social Movements and Protest.

Dr. Jochen Roose is
Professor for Social Sciences at the Willy Brandt Zentrum of the University
Wroc¿aw, Poland.

Dr. Hella Dietz works at the Institute for Sociology
at the Georg-August University in Göttingen, Germany.