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The impact of the US war economy on the shape of social movements is discussed. The concentration of corporate & state power within the military-industrial complex has promoted the development of friendly fascism characterized by: (1) alleged national interests perceived as moral imperatives; (2) routinization of bureaucratic power & conformity & glorification of the cult of technology; (3) the moral superiority of the security state; & (4) alienation of the people, flight from politics, & consequent pursuit of power & identity. These developments have created a new context for strategic thinking of the role of modern social movements. The new social movement strategy should emphasize linkage of peace, anti-intervention, & other popular movements, confrontation of state power, unified counterhegemony, reappraisal of the value of economic growth & patterns of consumption in light of increasingly scarce world resources, & transition of movements to political party formation. 11 References. D. Generoli

New social movements, focused around values and sociocultural identities, shape new communities outside the traditional field of party politics. On one hand, in their institutionalization, social movements enter the political sphere, and on the other, political parties strive to attract voters and supporters by application of tools typical for social movements. The subject of this paper is the border area between new social movements and parties, understood primarily as modes of collective action. The study aims at delineating the field of their mutual influence and at identifying its mechanisms, and explores the problems of ambivalence and instability affecting the dynamics of change within political systems.

The aim of this paper is to propose a conceptualization of social movements that is not limited to the set of theories developed in the academic scope of new social movements; on the contrary, a different theoretical scenery will be suggested in order to throw a new analytic gaze on the social practices reproduced by the, so called, new social movements. This gaze will be built on three distinct but interrelated premises. Firstly, it will be stressed the paradoxical dimension of identitarian practices and, consequently, the impossibility to define a social reality according to a single dimension. Secondly, paradoxical dimension will be taken to the scope of social movements in order to propose a definition of social movements that takes into account a constitutive paradox where a proxemic sociality and actor-network theory are put in relation. Lastly, the unfolding of such paradox is analyzed looking at its ironic style.

"Social movements are important means of bringing about political and cultural changes through collective action. The study of social movements helps us to understand how movements can achieve change, as well as how they are limited in doing so, by examining political and cultural opportunities and obstacles, organizational dynamics, resources, collective action frames, and strategies and tactics. The field of social movements is an exciting one, and scholars continue to produce new studies of a wide array of social movements in many different countries, while activists also regularly provide accounts of their experiences in social movements. Relevant to both activists and social scientists, the area is one that students find important and interesting. Given the proliferation of social movement scholarship in recent decades, it is a daunting task to attempt to capture the field in a short book. Thus, my goal is simply to introduce students and other readers to some interesting history, ideas, and questions about social movements. No single researcher can be an expert on all of the many social movements that might be covered in such a book, and I have limited myself to some of the movements that I have followed for many years in teaching and researching in the area. The book began with a Canadian edition, and later second and third Canadian editions, published by Oxford University Press Canada, which con-tain much more Canadian content. Some of this material, as well as material on other countries, remains in the American editions, but they include a lot more material on the United States. In the American editions of the book, I added a chapter on right-wing movements, which are particularly important in the United States. I also considered adding a chapter on the civil rights movement, which is obviously very important as well to the United States, but I decided instead to expand somewhat the material on the civil rights movement in my chapter on the protest cycle of the 1960s. My rationale for doing this instead of including a whole chapter on the civil rights movement is that there is so much excellent scholarship available on the movement that instructors can easily use to supplement my brief treatment. Hopefully, students will find this selection of contemporary protest movements interesting and will learn enough about theoretical ideas and approaches to movements to be able to apply this knowledge to other movements of interest"--

The article is a retrospective of the theoretical research of the sociologist Slobodan Antonic dedicated to evolution and strengthening of two important social (political) movements: radical-feminist and -LGBT. Contesting the scientific-methodological basis of theories that 'explain' them, the author emphasizes the importance of the neoliberal ideological platform on which these theories and derived movements are based. At the same time, numerous dangers that social engineering for which their members plead for are pointed out. Regardless the radical changes of social consciousness, social values and power relations in the contemporary society for which these movements plead for, they actually represent pro-systematic movements that help in preservation of neoliberal capitalism with their demands.

This article proposes that theories of 'new' social movements (NSMs) may illuminate contemporary welfare struggles and inform research into collective action in social policy. NSM theory is relevant because it focuses on social movement cultures, identity politics and symbolic struggles for the recognition of difference. However, it does this to the exclusion of 'traditional' issues such as material redistribution and inequality. A critical social policy, on the other hand, has retained a regard for these issues, but is also concerned with struggles for recognition. It is argued that all social movements raise issues about redistribution and recognition, although these will coexist to varying degrees. Using work carried out in the United States into women's self-help movements, this article shows how movements that are largely cultural may change social policy by posing symbolic challenges.

U radu se o Otporu raspravlja kao o složenom, pa čak i kontradiktornom društvenom pokretu novog tipa, koji je na krajnje pragmatičan, a istovremeno i veoma maštovit, stvaralački nastrojen, na trenutke čak neozbiljan i neodgovoran način pokušao da nastavi tradiciju prosvećenog reformisanja društvenog i političkog života u Srbiji. Autor započinje analizu razmatranjem medijskih i narodskih narativa o Otporu. Potom se prelazi na pitanje nastanka pokreta i mogućih značenja njegovog imena i ključnih simbola. Sledeći odeljak bavi se "faustovskim" pitanjem vrsta i posledica stranih uticaja na način funkcionisanja Otpora. Zatim se prelazi na razmatranje specifičnih strateških i taktičkih uloga Otpora u koordinisanom projektu rušenja Miloševićevog režima. Sledi pokušaj teorijskog određenja političkog projekta čiji je konstitutivni deo bio i Otpor, a koji počiva na modelu izborne revolucije koji su razvili Valeri Bans, Šeron Volčik i Majkl Mekfaul. U epilogu se razmatra kako je pokret, iako politički mrtav, zahvaljujući projektima nekadašnjih aktivista uspeo da preraste u jedan od poznatijih srpskih izvoznih "brendova". ; Otpor is discussed in the text as a complex and contradictory new type of social movement, whose members attempted to contribute to the tradition of enlightened reform of social and political life in Serbia, simultaneously in a highly pragmatic and in a creative, possibly even irresponsible manner. After the introduction, analyzed are popular and media narratives on the characteristics of the movement, dilemmas concerning the founding of the movement and meaning of its key symbols, and the Faustian question of goals and consequences of foreign, in particular American influences. Following is a discussion of strategic (non-violent revolution, calculated victimization) and tactical (black campaigns, get-out-the-vote campaign) roles of Otpor in the coordinated project of ousting Milosevic. Otpor's role is then re-interpreted in the frame of the 'electoral revolution', developed by Valerie Bunce, Sharon Wolchik and Michael McFoul. An assessment of the transformation of Otpor from an active social movement into an exportable blueprint for non-violent political revolutions is offered in lieu of a conclusion.