Where Did the Revolution Go?: Contentious Politics and the Quality of Democracy

by Donatella della Porta

Overview

Where Did the Revolution Go? considers the apparent disappearance of the large social movements that have contributed to democratization. Revived by recent events of the Arab Spring, this question is once again paramount. Is the disappearance real, given the focus of mass media and scholarship on electoral processes and 'normal politics'? Does it always happen, or only under certain circumstances? Are those who struggled for change destined to be disappointed by the slow pace of transformation? Which mechanisms are activated and deactivated during the rise and fall of democratization? This volume addresses these questions through empirical analysis based on quantitative and qualitative methods (including oral history) of cases in two waves of democratization: Central Eastern European cases in 1989 as well as cases in the Middle East and Mediterranean region in 2011.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781107173712
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/28/2016
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	430
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.29(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Donatella Della Porta is Professor of Political Science and Dean of the Institute for Humanities and the Social Sciences at the Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence, where she also directs the Center on Social Movement Studies (Cosmos). Among her most recent publications are: Social Movements in Times of Austerity (2015), Methodological Practices in Social Movement Research (2014), Mobilizing for Democracy (2014), Can Democracy be Saved? (2013), Clandestine Political Violence (Cambridge, 2013) and the Blackwell Encyclopedia on Social and Political Movements (2013).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; 1. Where did the revolution go? The outcomes of democratization paths; 2. Cycles of protest and the consolidation of democracy; 3. 'How great that you exist…': shifting conceptions of democracy; 4. 'It was a tsunami': shifting emotions; 5. 'Like a house of cards': time intensity and mobilization; 6. Civil society organizations: decline or growth?; 7. A normalization of politics?; 8. Socioeconomic rights and transition paths; 9. The protest process in the Arab Spring; 10. Arab Spring: which democratic qualities in Egypt and Tunisia?; 11. Where did the revolution go? Some conclusions; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"This is a fascinating book exploring democratization processes with an innovative approach: blending social movement studies with the literatures on democratization and on revolutions. Rich in its use of captivating oral history interviews with activists, it asks the question [of] how movements' characteristics at the time of transition might affect the qualities of the ensuing democracy, and therefore the future dynamics of protest itself. A must-read for scholars and activists alike."
Laszlo Bruszt, Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence, and Central European University, Budapest

"Scholars have focused so much on the sources of democratization that they sometimes forget to examine how waves of mobilization end, and with what consequences. Drawing on the literatures on social movements, democratization, and revolutions, della Porta's sweeping new book identifies common dynamics in democratization cycles. Drawing on a broad range of evidence ranging from Eastern Europe to the Arab Spring, she shows that the forms and pathways of mobilization influence the qualities of the ensuing regime. This is a book that students of comparative democratization, social movements, and revolutions cannot afford to miss."
Sidney Tarrow, Cornell University

"Donatella della Porta's important new book persuasively shows how the complex legacies of the revolutionary pathway to democracy shape the nature of the new democracies that emerge through such dynamics - generally in very positive ways. With a foundation in broadly comparative research, the analysis identifies and disentangles cognitive, emotional and relational consequences of popular mobilizations in the context of regime change."
Robert M. Fishman, Carlos III University, Madrid

"Brilliant and illuminating! This book is timely and highly relevant indeed as our world rapidly transforms violently rather than democratically. It speaks as much to academics striving to bring together complex debates in the social sciences dealing with political transformations and pathways to democracy as it speaks to the activist. Donatella della Porta masters the art of critically and productively engaging with social movement and transformation literature alike and pushing for the intellectual limits of these. At the same time, she gives much well-deserved space to the actors, to those who brought the revolutions into life and still struggle to understand where the revolution went. A must-read for democratic revolutionaries, young and old."
Cilja Harders, Free University of Berlin

From the Publisher