Donatella della Porta, Social Movements in Times of Austerity: Bringing Capitalism Back Into Protest Analysis

Abstract

Abstract. Over the last few years, there has been a certain degree of agreement among social movement scholars on the fact that the dominant analytical frameworks of social movement theory were not fully able to explain the recent wave of protests, triggered by the economic crisis. Followingthis concern, some authors have started a debate about how to modify and refine these frameworks in order to better account for the current dynamics of mobilization. This type of reflection is precisely at the centre of the analysis of a book recently published by Polity Press (2015: pp. 249), titled Social Movements in Times of Austerity. Bringing Capitalism Back into Protest Analysis, where the author, Donatella della Porta, one of the most prominent scholars of this field, takes a clear position in such debate by singling out some of the main limitations, which have negatively affected the developments of the theorizations of social movements over the past decades. In discussing these limitations, della Porta proposes some original remedies and solutions in terms of theories and themes to be introduced and investigated in the current agenda of social movement research.

Keywords. Political economy, Social movement studies, Neoliberalism, Economic crisis, Protests.

JEL. F50, F60.