Protest, social movements, and global democracy since 2011 : new perspectives / edited by Thomas Davies, Department of International Politics, City University London, UK; Holly Eva Ryan, Crick Centre, University of Sheffield, UK; Alejandro Milcíades Peñ

In light of the limited achievements of the Arab Spring and other pro-democracy movements, volume 39 examines and unpacks arguments that these protests represent both a new phase and new prospects for democratic mobilization. The volume engages with new theoretical and methodological perspectives and illuminates novel aspects of transnational social movement dynamics, such as the evolving role of information technology, deterritorialisation and government counter-responses. "Following the 2008 global economic crisis and the ill-fated 2011 Arab uprisings, new protest waves appeared across multiple continents, affecting both democratic governments and authoritarian regimes. These new expressions of public discontent are characterized by a decentralized and viral nature, the widespread use of social media, and a marked civic orientation. Demands include not only the widening of political rights and the reduction of inequalities but also more adequate fulfillment of the state's public responsibilities. This special volume examines diverse contemporary contentious political events and their potential for democratic reform, from antiausterity movements Europe and antiauthoritarian struggles in the Arab world, to student mobilizations in Chile and anticorporate marches in post-Soviet Armenia. Combining varied empirical and theoretical approaches, our contributors illuminate the roles that social movements can play in narrowing democratic deficits, the capacity of existing political institutions for addressing new social demands, the effects of social media, and the extents to which the global and the local intertwine. The volume casts a critical perspective on the optimistic assessments that characterized social movement and civil society studies in the millennium's first decade, while increasing understanding of the limitations and the challenges that activists face when taking to the streets." --Page 4 of cover