Understanding Individual Commitment to Collective Action Theoretical and Methodological Approaches

'With illustrations ranging from the 1789 Revolution to the FARC, this edited volume contributes to our understanding of the individual paths into various forms of collective action. Bridging different approaches and methodologies, it locates the analysis of activists' trajectories within a processual and relational perspective that goes beyond micro-dynamics.'

 - Donatella della Porta (Professor of political science and dean of the Institute for Humanities and the Social Sciences at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence, Italy.

'With an all-star cast of contributors, this short book covers an immense theoretical terrain. It probes the mystery of action, linking individuals to the social world around them. They think, feel, and engage with others in and out of many public and private settings, coming to politics with a range of goals and fantasies.'

 - James Jasper (Professor of Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center)

'What if social movement theory were more generous with individuals so often crushed under the weight of structures and reduced to rational abstractions? This book presents a range of innovative ideas for how to sociologically approach the protester. Here we find brighter colours in the palette of our methods and concepts that help bring into the foreground the idiosyncrasies, motives and dilemmas of those individuals who give flesh and soul to the movements in which they participate.'

 - Erik Neveu (Professor Emeritus, ARENES/CNRS)