This book offers a new approach to the study of social movements. Integrating American and European approaches, Eyerman and Jamison argue that social movements are forms of activity whereby individuals create new kinds of social identities not only for themselves but for the societies of which they form a part. They examine the success and failure of social movements in comparative terms, both between historical periods and political cultures, giving special attention to the American civil rights movement, environmental movements, and recent forms of collective protest in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. The result is a study which develops major theoretical innovations as well as integrating a wide range of empirical material. CONTENTS 1. Social movements and sociology 2. Social movements as cognitive praxis 3. Dimensions of cognitive Praxis 4. Social movements and their intellectuals 5. A case study: The American civil rights movement 6. Social movements in context 7. Conclusions