Social movements such as environmentalism, feminism, nationalism, and the anti-immigration movement are a prominent feature of the modern world and have attracted increasing attention from scholars in many countries. Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements, first published in 1996, brings together a set of essays that focus upon mobilization structures and strategies, political opportunities, and cultural framing and ideologies. The essays are comparative and include studies of the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe, the United States, Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany. Their authors are amongst the leaders in the development of social movement theory and the empirical study of social movements.

"...this edited book is an invaluable resource..." Crawford Young, Perspectives on Political Science

"These four essays...should become required reading for every graduate course on social movements....the volume shows far more coherence than most anthologies and much cross-referencing between chapters....the strength of the volume is its examination of grassroots social movements and their sometime connections to public interest lobbies....The goal of the authors, however, is to provide a broad framework for systematic comparative study of social movements. In this they have ably succeeded." Carol M. Mueller, Contemporary Sociology

"This book is a successful attempt by the editors and authors, leading theorists in the social movement field, to assess and further the growing field of comparative analysis of social movements. Overall, this volume makes a major contribution to the development of our understanding of social movements and adds to our knowledge of politics, the state, and culture." Robert Kleidman, Social Forces