This volume develops a theoretical explanation of the conditions under which and the mechanisms through which social movements' struggles for democracy ends up in civil war.

Donatella della Porta is Professor of Political Science and Dean of the Institute for Humanities and the Social Sciences at the Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence, Italy.

Teije Hidde Donker is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Comparative Politics at the University of Bergen, Norway.

Bogumila Hall has a PhD in Sociology from the European University Institute, Florence, Italy.

Emin Poljarevic is a PDRA Research Fellow at Qatar University.

Daniel P. Ritter is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Stockholm University, Sweden.

1. Social movements in civil wars: An introduction, Donatella della Porta

2. Causal mechanisms in civil wars: A sensitizing map, Donatella della Porta

3. Beyond Syria: Civil society in failed episodes of democratization, Teije Hidde Donker

4. The failure of Libyan political transition and the descent into civil war, Emin Poljarevic

5. Yemen's failed transition: From peaceful protests to war of 'all against all', Bogumila Hall

6. Yugoslavia: From social movement to state movement to civil war, Daniel P. Ritter

7. Social movements, democratization, and civil wars: some conclusions, Donatella della Porta