Authors:
- Offers a rare wide-ranging study of the Occupy movement
- Provides a synthesis and critique of leading contemporary Left theorists as a means of assessing political contestation
- Challenges dominant discourses as to the importance of social media for contemporary activism
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Table of contents (10 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Situating Contestation
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Front Matter
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Contesting the Twenty-First Century: An Analysis of Occupy
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Front Matter
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Claiming the Twenty-First Century
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
This book contends that the impasse of the Left today is in part, a result of an anarchist ‘common sense’ among activists. The author argues that the vital dynamics of anarchism and social movements need to be combined with a reappraisal of the Communist party and state. While cynicism towards capitalism and existing political institutions is plentiful, this book argues that the Left appears mired in a reactive politics of resistance, unable to formulate programmes for substantive social change.
Drawing insights from the history of the Left, political economy, contemporary critical theory and an in-depth study of Occupy, the author provides concrete suggestions as to how the Left might ‘claim the twenty-first century’ and realise a more equitable social order. Social Movements and Democracy in the 21st Century challenges activists and scholars to rethink social movements and political organisation, and to actively work towards enduring social change. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of social movement studies, Left theory, critical theory, political sociology and Marxism, as well as anyone with an interest in ‘political change’.
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Authors and Affiliations
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Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington , New Zealand
Dylan Taylor
About the author
Dylan Taylor is Lecturer in Sociology at Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa, New Zealand. He is Editor of the journal Counterfutures: Left Thought and Practice Aotearoa and is a Research Fellow of Economic and Social Research Aotearoa.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Social Movements and Democracy in the 21st Century
Authors: Dylan Taylor
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39684-2
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-39683-5Published: 26 January 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-81940-2Published: 12 July 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-39684-2Published: 16 January 2017
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XI, 290
Topics: Political Sociology, Social Justice, Equality and Human Rights, Political Communication