Bibliotheken Online

Social movements and the new state

the fate of pro-democracy organizations when democracy is won

Brian K. Grodsky

Buch

englisch

Grodsky, Brian K. (Verfasser/-in) DNB

Stanford University Press

Stanford, Calif.

2012

x, 205 p.

978-0-8047-8232-6

includes bibligraphical references and index.

poland
case study
south africa
social movements
democratization

Summary:
The world's democracies cheered as the social movements of the Arab Spring ended the reigns of longstanding dictators and ushered in the possibility of democracy. Yet these unique transitions also fit into a broader pattern of democratic breakthroughs around the globe, where political leaders emerge from the pro-democracy movement that helped affect change. In Social Movements and the New State , Brian Grodsky examines the relationships between new political elites and the civil society organizations that brought them to power in three culturally and geographically disparate countries-Poland, South Africa, and Georgia. This book argues that the identities and personal networks developed during the struggle provide "movement activists" with opportunities to influence minor issues, but that new and differing institutional pressures create schisms on broader policy that can turn prior bonds into a liability rather than an asset. Drawing on media analyses and more than 150 elite interviews, Grodsky offers a rare empirical assessment of the degree to which social movement organizations shape activists' beliefs and actions over the long term.

Contents:
Introduction : how many lives does a social movement have? -- From mobilization to victory : democratization and the fate of social movement organizations -- From solidarity to isolation : how Poland's pro-democracy movement lost in the transition -- From elation to frustration : the tale of South Africa's two organizational giants -- The struggle of NGOs after the Rose Revolution -- Implications and conclusions.

0