The emergence and development of new social movements (ecological, feminist, peace etc.), during the last four decades changed the form and content of political and social collective action and created the need for new theoretical approaches. The course focuses on theories of collective action and social movements. Emphasis is placed on contentious politics theory and the theory of new social movements that constitute the two dominant contemporary research programs. The theoretical and research tools of these two theories are used to analyze contemporary social movements.
We examine the following particular topics:
– Definition of social movements
– Comparison between old and new social movements
– Theories of collective behavior(Blumer, Gurr, Davies, Merton)
– Marxist theories of collective action (Lenin, Luxemburg)
– Rational choice theory (Olson)
– Resource mobilization theory (Μc Carthy – Zald)
– New social movements theory (Touraine, Μelucci, Οffe, Habermas)
– Political process approach (Μc Adam, Tarrow)
– Frame analysis (Snow, Benford)
– Contentious Politics (Tilly, Tarrow)
– Contemporary social movements (movement against the neoliberal globalization, square movements, occupy movements)

By the end of the unit students are expected to be able to:
– identify the key questions of the contemporary research on social movements,
– understand the theoretical and epistemological differences of the research programs that have been established for the study of social movements in the last 50 years,
– recognize the influence of social and political context to the dominant theories
– use basic research tools of the contemporary approaches
– analyze the main features of contemporary social movements.

Course Bibliography (Eudoxus)
Μιχάλη Ψημίτη «Εισαγωγή στα Σύγχρονα Κοινωνικά Κινήματα» εκδόσεις Ατραπός, Αθήνα
Εrik Neveu «Κοινωνιολογία των Κοινωνικών Κινημάτων» εκδόσεις Σαββάλας, Αθήνα

Additional bibliography for study
Αλεξανδρόπουλος Σ. 2001, Θεωρίες για τη συλλογική δράση και τα κοινωνικά κινήματα, τόμος Α’, Κριτική, Αθήνα, 2001.
Benford R., Snow D. 2000, «Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment», Annual Review of Sociology, 26: 611-639.
Eder K. 1995, «Does Social Class Matter in the Study of Social Movements? A Theory of Middle-class Radicalism», στο Louis Maheu, Social Movements and Social Classes, London: Sage, σελ. 21-54.
Gamson, W. 1990, The Strategy of Social Protest, 2η έκδοση, Wadsworth Boston.
Hirsch, J. 1998, «A Party is not a Movement and Vice Versa», στο: Ely, J. και Mayer M., (επιμ.), The German Greens. Paradox between Movement and Party. Τemple University Press, Philadelphia, σελ. 180 -192.
Inglehart R. 2003, «Changing Values in Post-Industrial Societies», (απόσπασμα από το The Silent Revolution) στο Jeff Goodwin, James M. Jasper, The Social Movements Reader. Cases and Concepts, Oxford: Blackwell, 64-80.
Jenkins C.J. 1983, «Resource Mobilization Theory and the Study of Social Movements», Annual Review of Sociology 9: 527-553.
Jenkins, C. και Klanderman, B. 1995, The Politics of Social Protest. Comparative Perspectives on States and Social Movements. London: University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
Johnston H., Larana E. and Gusfield J 1994, New Social Movements. From Ideology to Identity, Philadelphia, Temple University Press.
Johnston H. and Klandermans B. 1995, (eds.), Social Movements and Culture, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Mayer M., Roth R. 1995, «New Social Movements and the Transformation to Post-Fordist Society», στο Marcy Darnovsky, Barbara Epstein and Richard Flacks, (eds.), Cultural Politics and Social Movements, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, σελ. 299-319.
McAdam D. 1982, Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930-1970, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
McAdam D., McCarthy J., Zald M. 1996, Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements. Political Opportunities, Mobilizing Structures, and Cultural Framings, Cambridge University Press.
McCarthy J. and Zald M 1977, «Resource Mobilization and Social Movements: A Partial Theory», American Journal of Sociology 82: 1212-1241.
Melucci, A. 1996, Challenging Codes. Collective Action in the Information Age. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Meyer D., Tarrow S. 1998 (eds.), The Social Movement Society. Contentious Politics for a New Century, Boulder, CO: Rowman & Littlefield.
Olson M. 1991, Η Λογική της Συλλογικής Δράσης, Παπαζήσης, Αθήνα, 1991.
Snow D., Soule S. & Kriesi H. 2004, The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements, Oxford: Blackwell.
Snow D. (et. al.) 1986, «Frame Alignment Processes, Micromobilisation, and Movement Participation», American Sociological Review 51(4): 464-481.
Tarrow S. 1998, Power in Movement, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tilly C. 2007, Κοινωνικά Κινήματα 1768-2004, Σαβάλλας: Αθήνα.
Tilly C. and Tarrow S. 2007, Contentious Politics, Boulder: Paradigm Publishers.
Τouraine A. 1981, The Voice and the Eye. An Analysis of Social Movements. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Turner R. H. and Killian L. M. 1987, Collective Behavior, Third Edition, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.