Social Stratification and Social Movements: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives on an Ambivalent Relationship

This volume takes up the question of the connection between social movements and societal structures, addressing the neglect in social movement studies of the role of social stratification as a reason or cause for protest. Exploring the link between protest mobilization and social stratification, it challenges the assumption that with regard to social inequality, social movements are expressions of antagonistic class interests. With attention to the importance of social positions and the ways in which they can help to explain differences in political orientation, aims and interests among protesters, it also considers the socio-structural composition of protesters, calling into question that protest is always protest of the most deprived or directly affected in society and showing that there is indeed scope for the idea of 'middle class' protest. Presenting case studies that put the European experience of social mobilization into broader, comparative perspective, Social Stratification and Social Movements connects social stratification to the emergence of protest, and its impact on the structure of society thus contributing to the development of theory dealing with the evolution and consequences of social movements.