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Abstract. We present a number of concepts and hypotheses concerning the impact of the political opportunity structure on the mobilisation pattern of new social movements in Western Europe. The hypotheses refer to the general level of mobilisation in a given country, the general forms and strategies of action employed, the system level at which mobilisation is typically oriented and the development of the level of mobilisation across time. The hypotheses are tested in a comparative analysis of France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The analysis reveals country‐specific variations in the mobilisation patterns of new social movements, which are largely in line with the theoretical expectations and serve to confirm the relevance of the political process approach for the study of social movements.

The rising employment of contingent faculty, once largely ignored, has become a major issue in American academia. Regular faculty, administrators, and the public at‐large have joined their distinct interests to those of contingent faculty in demanding reform. Meanwhile, contingent faculty who would take a full‐time job if available have reached a critical mass. This subgroup is fueling a new social activism. Since 1998, a social movement has taken shape that relies on community‐wide coalitions and directs its demands to the public as well as administrators.

"The world is currently witnessing the emergence of a new context for education, labor, and transformative social movements. Global flows of people, capital, and energy increasingly define the world we live in. The multinational corporation, with its pursuit of ever-cheaper sources of labor and materials and its disregard for human life, is the dominant form of economic organization, where capital can cross borders, but people can't. Affirmative action, democracy, and human rights are moving in from the margins to challenge capitalist priorities of "efficiency", i.e. exploitation. In some places, the representatives of popular movements are actually taking the reins of state power. Across the globe new progressive movements are emerging to bridge national identities and boundaries, in solidarity with transnational class, gender, and ethnic struggles"--

Critical theory has two distinct aims: the analysis and critique of particular existing oppressions, and the more emancipatory or reconstructive method or goal needed to move beyond current conditions. But often critical theory is too preoccupied with the first moment to consider the second. This essay examines the evolution of the notion of communicative action and a number of current debates surrounding especially Habermas's theory. It then examines two existing social change movements which incorporate aspects of communicative action into their everyday practices–the Alternative Dispute Resolution movement and the Direct Action movement–and illustrates how certain theoretical dilemmas are actually played out. The argument is that the practices of communicative action can help illuminate academic debates. Critical practice is not only an expression of critical theory, but can be used as an ongoing reflective guide for that theory.