New Social Movements in Western Europe: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

New social movements are defined as those that have arisen since the late sixties, and include the ecology, gay rights, peace, and women’s movements. This volume provides a cross-national comparison of the development, mobilization, and impact of new social movements in four Western European nations-France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Seeking to move beyond classical theories of collective behavior, this study suggests that social change affects political mobilization indirectly through a restructuring of existing power relations. The authors of this study employ empiricial analysis to demonstrate that the mobilization of social movements is closely linked to conventional politics in the parliamentary and extraparliamentary arenas of each of the countries under discussion.