Nomads of the Present: Social Movements and Individual Needs in Contemporary Society

by Alberto Melucci, John Keane

Although he is generally recognized as one of the leading analysts of contemporary social movements, few of Alberto Melucci's writing writings on the subject have been published in English. Nomads of the Present makes available for the first time in English a coherent and representative sample of Melucci's most important essays. This synthesis of his work on social movements is no mere collection of previously published essays; each chapter draws on the author's work in several different places to present his evaluation of Western theories on social movements supported by both theoretical and empirical research.

Genres: Theory

288 pages, Hardcover

First published March 2, 1989

Reviews

[Chelsea Szendi · Rating 3 out of 5]

How do we pin down "new social movements" when they are so various as to be only unified through what they are not: they are not "social movements," those often proletariat-led beasts that chewed us the contours of the early twentieth century. This book notes many of the social shifts in the content, context, and functions of what have been dubbed "new social movements."

Of particular interest is Melucci's claim that examinations of social movements often ignore the processes of social movements (identity formation, e.g.) in favor of the products (protests, the repertoires of Charles Tilly, e.g.).

Another take-away is Melucci's argument that new social movements often take the form of a symbolic challenge. In regard to this, I found the new social movement goal of "rendering power visible" something I'd like to think about a bit more.