In Social Movements: A Theoretical Approach, Dieter Rucht offers a theoretically and historically informed approach to social movements as a phenomenon of modern societies. He links the analysis of social movements to general theories of society and processes of social change, and combines three basic perspectives: interactionist, constructivist, and process-oriented (ICP-approach). Drawing mainly on ideas from Jürgen Habermas, Pierre Bourdieu, and Anthony Giddens, Rucht recommends several revisions and highlights the important role of the public sphere as the central stage for social movements. He argues that it is a realm in its own right and the major domain in which social movements make themselves seen and heard, garner support, and possibly succeed in changing basic societal structures. This comprehensive treatise analyzes the external and internal activities of social movements, the role of different kinds of opportunities and restrictions, collective identities and framing, organizing, networking, and strategizing. It lucidly examines the complexity of social movements that have a status as both actors and systems, and whose logic cannot be reduced to either strategic or communicative action.

Dieter Rucht is a senior research fellow affiliated to the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) and to the Institute for Research on Protest and Social Movements in Berlin. Previously he was Professor of Sociology at the Free University of Berlin and co-director of the research group Civil Society, Citizenship and Political Mobilization in Europe at WZB. He has been affiliated with universities in Munich, the USA, France and Great Britain and his research fields include political participation, social movements, political protest, and public discourse.