Suchergebnisse

The European Social Forum hosted by Florence, Italy, in Nov 2002, was expected by many to balloon into a giant violent political protest. It did not. There was not a single act of violence, & participation was way beyond expectations, with 60,000 participants, representing 426 associations in 105 countries, taking part in the 30 plenary sessions, 160 seminars, 180 workshops, & 75 cultural events. The protests that did take place were seen as a moment of consolidation of a social movement. The ESF formally declared "We want a World of differences, freedom, & reciprocal respect." This chapter focuses on how this "movement of movements" mobilizes, constructs its own resources & opportunities, exploits a vast but heterogeneous social capital but has an individualistic Zeitgeist that discourages traditional militantism, develops tolerant identities, & frames differences as an enriching characteristic of the movement. This reconstruction of the movement's identity & politics is based on survey of ESF activists, 6 focus groups, & semi-structured interviews with representative country samples, totaling 2,384 participants. The findings lead to the conclusion that from this movement for global justice there emerges a conception of democracy as a search for a common good, starting from a pluralist confrontation among equals. Tables. J. Stanton

The aim of this chapter is to discuss the problems & peculiarities of comparative politics as a method for the analysis of social movements. After a discussion of what comparative politics is, I present the principle methodological strategies & describe the underlying logic of the comparative method. Important issues include the formation of concepts, the number of cases, the use of time, & the choice of similar or different contexts. I conclude with a discussion of different perspectives in the field. Throughout, research on social movements will be the center of attention, providing illustrations of the main problems (& solutions) in the field. Adapted from the source document.