City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

Democracy from below, new social movements and the political system in West Germany, Ruud Koopmans

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-282)

illustrations

no index present

non fiction

Democracy from below

bibliography

Ruud Koopmans

new social movements and the political system in West Germany

West Germany is generally considered the country where new social movements addressing themes such as ecology, peace, and women's rights found their strongest and most pronounced expression. This book shows how new social movements were shaped by the nature and development of the West German political system and how, in turn, these movements have made an important contribution to the consolidation and deepening of democracy in Germany. Democracy from Below is based on an elaboration of the political process approach to social movements. This perspective emphasizes the constraining and facilitating role of political opportunities provided by "established" politics for the mobilization of social movements as well as the embeddedness of individual social movements within broader waves of protest. Koopmans bases his study on new extensive data on more than 3,000 protest events between 1965 and 1989 and on the characteristics of the most important organizations of the new social movements. The book also has a strong comparative focus, contrasting the West German case to similar data on social movement mobilization in France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Democracy from Below will be of interest not only to students of social movements but also to those interested in comparative politics and contemporary German politics. In addition, social movement activists interested in questions of strategy and tactics will find the book useful

1. The Politics of Social Movements. The Political Approach to Social Movements. The Subject Matter: Social Movements and What Is New About Them. Central Concepts. Movement Types, Opportunities, and Mobilization -- 2. Protest in a Nation Designed for Stability. New Beginnings and Shadows of the Past: The Origins of a German Democracy. The Conflict Structure: The Short Life of the Formierte Gesellschaft. The Formal Institutional Structure: Fragmentation of Power. Informal Elite Strategies: The Wehrhafte Demokratie. The Configuration of Power: The Belated Breakthrough of New Politics -- 3. Patterns of Unruliness, 1965-1989. Between Activity and Acquiescence. The Scope of Protest Waves: Ecological and Diffusion Models. Two Theories of Protest Dynamics. The Expansion of Protest: Innovation and Diffusion. The Development of the Action Repertoire. Repression and Facilitation. Organization and Spontaneity. Determinants of the Rise and Fall of Protest: A Synthesis -- 4. Histories of Contention, 1975-1989. "Better to Be Active Today, Than Radioactive Tomorrow": The First Wave of Anti-Nuclear Protest. "We Are the People Our Parents Have Always Warned Us About": The Squatters' Movement. "When the Trees Fall, the People Rise": The Conflict Around the Startbahn West. "Making Peace Without Weapons": The Peace Movement of the 1980s. Chernobyl, Wackersdorf and the Revival of the Anti-Nuclear Movement. "Fire and Flames for this State": The Autonomen. The Institutionalization of the Ecology Movement -- 5. Conclusions. Social Movement Theory. New Social Movements and Democracy in Germany -- Appendix A: The Newspaper Data -- Appendix B: Organizations Interviewed