Although the end of the Cold War was greeted with great enthusiasm by people in the East and the West, the ensuing social and especially economic changes did not always result in the hoped-for improvements in people s lives. This led to widespread disillusionment that can be observed today all across Eastern Europe. Not simply a longing for security, stability, and prosperity, this nostalgia is also a sense of loss regarding a specific form of sociability. Even some of those who opposed communism express a desire to invest their new lives with renewed meaning and dignity. Among the younger generation, it surfaces as a tentative yet growing curiosity about the recent past. In this volume scholars from multiple disciplines explore the various fascinating aspects of this nostalgic turn by analyzing the impact of generational clusters, the rural-urban divide, gender differences, and political orientation. They argue persuasively that this nostalgia should not be seen as a wish to restore the past, as it has otherwise been understood, but instead it should be recognized as part of a more complex healing process and an attempt to come to terms both with the communist era as well as the new inequalities of the post-communist era.

Why and how do social movements emerge? In which ways are social movements analyzed? Can our understanding be enhanced by new perspectives? Making Sense of Social Movements offers a clear and comprehensive overview of the key sociological approaches to the study of social movements. The author argues that each of these approaches makes an important contribution to our understanding of social movements but that none is adequate on its own. In response he argues for a new approach which draws together key insights within the solid foundations of Pierre Bourdieu's social theory of practice. This new approach transcends the barriers that still often divide European and North American perspectives of social movements, and also those which divide recent approaches from the older 'collective behavior' approach. The result is a theoretical framework that is uniquely equipped for the demands of modern social movement analysis. The clear and concise style of the text, as well as its neat summaries of key concepts and approaches, will make this book invaluable for undergraduate courses. It will also be an essential reference for researchers.

Westerners invented social movements during the 18th century, but after that social movements became vehicles of popular politics across the world. By locating social movements in history, prize-winning social scientist Charles Tilly provides rich and often surprising insights into the origins of contemporary social movement practices, relations of social movements to democratization, and likely futures for social movements. Shows how social movements are changing, including the impact of new technologies and globalization. Traces the invention and evolution of social movements with lessons for how social movements could lose their vigor. Explores fundamental questions such as 'How does democratization really occur?' Considers the relation of movements to identity, citizenship, and capital and questions whether social movements are viable in authoritarian states. Students will appreciate Tilly's vivid examples from around the world (including a fantasy of 17th century figures John Wilkes and Samuel Adams trying to discern the effectiveness of 2003 Iraq War demonstrators).