Description
Book SynopsisContemporary protest, often presented in media forms as a dramatic ritual played out in an iconic public space has provided a potent symbol of the widespread economic and social discontent that is a feature of European life under the rule of “austerity.” Yet, beneath this surface activity, which provides the headlines and images familiar from mainstream news coverage, lies a whole array of deeper structures, modes of behavior, and forms of human affiliation. Contemporary Protest and the Legacy of Dissent offers a vibrant and insightful overview of modern protest movements, ideologies, and events. Written by academics and activists familiar with the strategies, values, and arguments of those groups and individuals responsible for shaping the modern landscape of protest, it reveals the inside story of a number of campaigns and events. It analyzes the various manifestations of dissent—on and offline, visible and obscure, progressive and reactionary—through the work of a number of commentators and dedicated “academic activists,” while reassessing the standard explanatory frameworks supplied by contemporary theorists. In doing so, it offers a coherent account of the range of academic and theoretical approaches to the study of protest and social movements. Contributions by: David Bates, Mark Bergfeld, Vincent Campbell, Claire English, Ingrid M. Hoofd, Soeren Keil, Matthew Ogilvie, Stuart Price, Anandi Ramamurthy, Ruth Sanz Sabido, Lee Salter, Cassian Sparkes-Vian, and Thomas Swann.
Trade ReviewThe recent explosion of pro-democracy and anti-austerity protests from the bottom-up have revitalized ‘the political’ around the globe and have done so in a period when many occupying top-down perspectives had thought that hopes for a better future had historically run into the sands of neo-liberalism, repressive states and consumerism. This latest collection by Stuart Price and Ruth Sanz Sabido intelligently dissects the conditions and contingencies of protest in the contemporary era and provides new insights into the prospects and challenges confronting new social movements for change. -- Simon Cottle, Professor of Media and Communications at the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University
Table of ContentsDedication / Acknowledgements / List of Illustrations / Introduction / Part I: Protest, Memory and Citizenship / 1. The Legacy of Dissent: Class, Gender and Austerity - Stuart Price / 2. ‘They Call it Democracy’: Cultural Memory and Anti-Austerity Protests in Spain - Ruth Sanz Sabido / 3. Social Protest, Political Change and Democratisation in Ukraine - Soeren Keil, David Bates and Matthew Ogilvie / Part II: Occupation, Technology and Ideology / 4. No Gods, no Masters … no Leaders? The Role of ‘anarchists’ in Occupy - Mark Bergfeld / 5. A Marxist and an Anarchist Walk into the Occupy Movement: Internal and External Communication Practices of Radical Left Groups - Thomas Swann / 6. Accelerating the Revolution: the Mediated Usurpation of Street Protest - Ingrid M. Hoofd / Part III: Riots and Political Discourse / 7. Calls to Order: ‘Anarchy’, Riots and State Repression - Stuart Price / 8. Conflicting Narratives in the Fog of Riot: The Case of the 2011 Stokes Croft Riots - Cassian Sparkes-Vian / 9. Student Occupations: A New Generation of Protesters - Lee Salter / Part IV: Solidarity, Citizenship and Intervention / 10. Bordering on Reproducing the State: Migrant Solidarity Collectives and Constructions of the Other in ‘Safer Spaces’- Claire English / 11. Marxism, Anti-imperialism and the Asian Youth Movements in Britain - Anandi Ramamurthy / 12. Citizen Journalism and Active Citizenship - Vincent Campbell / Index / About the Contributors
