Marxism, Social Movements and Collective Action

This book makes a relevant contribution to a Marxist critical explanation of social conflicts, social movements and protests. There is abundant literature on social conflict and social movements from Marxist perspectives. However, rigorous criticism, both theoretical and methodological, is scarce. The objective of this volume is the collection of works developing a critical reflection on the categories of theories about contentious collective action and social movements from a Marxist perspective. In order to better understand these phenomena and go beyond their mere case description, the theory needs to be improved. To that end, the book also promotes the debate between Marxisms and the collective action and new social movements in a renewed way. Here different Marxist arguments consider not only their methodological and ideological bias, but also the specific conceptual contributions of those theories.

Chapter 1. Introduction. - Chapter 2. From the Criticism of Collective Action Theories to the Study of the Political Composition of Class. - Chapter 3. Working-Class Formation, Social Forces and Collective Action. - Chapter 4. Moving Beyond the Toolbox: Providing Social Movements Studies with a Materialist Dialectical Lens. - Chapter 5. The Denial of Social Classes in the Theories of Collective Action and the New Social Movements. - Chapter 6. On dignity. Reflections on the rationality of insurrectional actions. - Chapter 7. A Marxist Perspective on Worker s Collective Action. - Chapter 8. Theories on Strikes and Social Movement Theory. - Chapter 9. Gramsci Theorist of Political Subjetivation. - Chapter 10. Revolts of the Stagnant Reserve Army of Labor. - Chapter 11. Being on the Side of Workers. - Chapter 12. On the Old and New Mental Maps of the Working Class Formation.