Social Movements in Global Politics

Abstract

The twenty-first century has, so far, been characterised by a crisis of institutional politics. Nation-state governments have become less and less capable of solving long-standing, potentially catastrophic problems such as global climate change, world population growth, global inequality and the loss of local cultures. As a result, many people are dissatisfied with politicians and politics in general. According to West, author of Social Movements in Global Politics, these flaws in policy-making are not unavoidable and could be solved through extra-institutional forms of politics such as social movements, which are defined as ‘enduring patterns of collective activity that take place outside and often in opposition to official political institutions’ (p. xv).