Social movements such as environmentalism, feminism, nationalism, and the anti-immigration movement figure prominently in the modern world. Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements examines social movements in a comparative perspective, focusing on the role of ideology and beliefs, mechanisms of mobilization, and how politics shapes the development and outcomes of movements. It includes case studies of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the United States, Italy, the Netherlands, and West Germany.

Introduction: Opportunities, Mobilizing Structures, and Framing rocesses, by Doug McAdam


Section I: Political Opportunities;
Chapter one, clarifying the concept of political Opportunities, by Doug McAdam
Chapter two, states and Opportunities: The political structuring of social movements, by Sidney Tarrow;
Chapter three, social movements and the state: Thoughts on the Policing of protest, by Donatella Della Porta;
Chapter four, Opportunities and framing in the east European revolts of 1989, by Anthony Oberschall;
Chapter five, Opportunities and framing in the political cycle of perestroika, by Elena Zdravomyslova

Section II: Mobilizing structures
Chapter six, Mobilizing structures: Constraints and Opportunities in adopting, adapting and inventing, by John D. McCarthy
Chapter seven, the organizational structure of new social movements in Relation to their political context, by Hanspeter Kriesi
Chapter eight, The impact of national contexts On social movement structures: A cross-movement and cross-national Comparison, by Dieter Rucht
Chapter nine, organizational form as frame: Collective identity and political strategy in the American labor Movement, 1880-1920, by Elisabeth S. Clemens
Chapter ten, the collapse of a social movement: The interplay Of mobilizing structures, framing, and political opportunities in the Knights of Labor, by Kim Voss

Section III: Framing processes
Chapter eleven, culture, ideology, and Strategic framing, by Mayer N. Zald
Chapter twelve, accessing public, Media, electoral and governmental agendas, by John D. McCarthy, Jackie Smith, and Mayer N. Zald
Chapter thirteen: Media discourse, movement Publicity and the generation of Collective action frames: Theoretical and empirical exercises in meaning Construction, by Bert Klandermans and Sjoerd Goslinga
Chapter fourteen, Framing political opportunity, by William A. Gamson and David S. Meyer
Chapter fifteen, the framing Function of movement tactics: Strategic dramaturgy in the American civil Rights movement, by Doug McAdam