Meeting Democracy
Power and Deliberation in Global Justice Movements

An innovative study of the internal practices of deliberation and democratic decision-making in twelve Global Justice social movement groups.

Donatella della Porta (Edited by), Dieter Rucht (Edited by)

9781107028302, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 January 2013

288 pages, 4 b/w illus. 26 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.54 kg

'Revelatory. We really have learned something since the sixties. With incisive descriptions, interviews, and unsentimental analysis, this book takes you into GJM meetings, through controversy and concord, to demonstrate in concrete detail not only how hot-headed, dismissive and unconsciously exclusionary, but also - and more dominantly - how inclusive, mutually respectful, and deliberatory these new institutions and activists can be.' Jane Mansbridge, Harvard University

The concepts of power and democracy have been extensively studied at the global, national and local levels and within institutions including states, international organizations and political parties. However, the interplay of those concepts within social movements is given far less attention. Studies have so far mainly focused on their protest activities rather than the internal practices of deliberation and democratic decision-making. Meeting Democracy presents empirical research that examines in detail how power is distributed and how consensus is reached in twelve global justice movement organizations, with detailed observations of how they operate in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. Written by leading political scientists and sociologists, this work contributes significantly to the wider literature on power and deliberative democracy within political science and sociology.

1. Power and democracy in social movements: an introduction Donatella della Porta and Dieter Rucht
2. A methodology for studying democracy and power in group meetings Christoph Haug, Dieter Rucht and Simon Teune
3. Types and patterns of intragroup controversies Dieter Rucht
4. Patterns of participation Clare Saunders and Christopher Rootes
5. Power and arguments in global justice movement settings Massimiliano Andretta
6. Emotions in movement Donatella della Porta and Marco Giugni
7. Quality of deliberation: a multilevel analysis Marco Giugni and Alessandro Nai
8. Structurelessness: an evil or an asset? A case study Christoph Haug and Dieter Rucht
9. Power and democracy: concluding remarks Donatella della Porta and Dieter Rucht
Appendices.

Subject Areas: Political structures: democracy [JPHV], Comparative politics [JPB], Sociology [JHB]