PapersFlow Research Brief
Communism, Protests, Social Movements
Research Guide
What is Communism, Protests, Social Movements?
Communism, Protests, Social Movements refers to the cluster of scholarly works examining global social movements, transnational activism, and countercultural phenomena of the 1960s and 1970s, including decolonization, protest, solidarity, and internationalism.
This field encompasses 77,373 works focused on the interconnected social and political movements of the mid-20th century. Key themes include youth involvement, counterculture, and challenges to established institutions in advanced industrial democracies. Growth rate over the past five years is not available.
Topic Hierarchy
Research Sub-Topics
Transnational Solidarity Movements 1960s
This sub-topic studies cross-border activist networks supporting anti-colonial struggles, Vietnam War protests, and labor internationalism during the long 1960s. Researchers analyze communication flows and shared repertoires.
Decolonization and Anti-imperialist Protests
Focuses on how metropolitan youth movements allied with Third World liberation, influencing domestic policies through demonstrations and cultural solidarity. Examines cases like French May 68 and US Black Power.
1960s Countercultural Social Movements
This sub-topic investigates intersections of hippie communes, sexual liberation, and environmentalism with political protest, emphasizing lifestyle politics and cultural revolution.
Political Opportunity Structures in 1960s Protests
Researchers apply POS framework to compare protest cycles across democracies, analyzing elite divisions, repression, and institutional access in events like 1968 waves.
New Left Ideology and Transnational Activism
Studies the ideological synthesis of Marxism, anarchism, and cultural radicalism in groups like SDS, SDSR, and international forums, tracing influences on party formation.
Why It Matters
Studies in this field explain persistence of leaders amid corruption and war, as Bueno de Mesquita et al. (2003) analyze in "The Logic of Political Survival," addressing why peace-producing rulers lose power while others endure, with 4011 citations. Gurr (1970) in "Why men rebel" links relative deprivation to political violence, influencing research on conflicts in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East over decades, cited 3537 times. Kitschelt (1986) in "Political Opportunity Structures and Political Protest: Anti-Nuclear Movements in Four Democracies" demonstrates how structures shape anti-nuclear protests across democracies, cited 2461 times, informing policy responses to activism.
Reading Guide
Where to Start
"Why men rebel" by Gurr (1970) serves as the starting point, offering a foundational theory of rebellion grounded in 1960s violence that influenced decades of conflict research, with 3537 citations.
Key Papers Explained
Gurr (1970) "Why men rebel" establishes relative deprivation as rebellion's cause, which Bueno de Mesquita et al. (2003) "The Logic of Political Survival" extends to leader incentives, cited 4011 times. Kitschelt (1986) "Political Opportunity Structures and Political Protest: Anti-Nuclear Movements in Four Democracies" applies opportunities to 1960s protests, building on Gurr, with 2461 citations; Taylor (1989) "Social Movement Continuity: The Women's Movement in Abeyance" adds continuity mechanisms, cited 1339 times. Mouffe and Laclau (1985) "Hegemony and Socialist Strategy" theorizes strategy atop these dynamics.
Paper Timeline
Most-cited paper highlighted in red. Papers ordered chronologically.
Advanced Directions
Field centers on 1960s-1970s activism with no recent preprints or news in last 12 months. Core debates persist on opportunity structures and violence logics from Kitschelt (1986) and Kalyvas (2006).
Papers at a Glance
| # | Paper | Year | Venue | Citations | Open Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Logic of Political Survival | 2003 | The MIT Press eBooks | 4.0K | ✕ |
| 2 | Why men rebel | 1970 | Medical Entomology and... | 3.5K | ✕ |
| 3 | Security, territory, population: lectures at the College de Fr... | 2007 | Choice Reviews Online | 3.5K | ✕ |
| 4 | Hegemony and Socialist Strategy | 1985 | — | 3.1K | ✕ |
| 5 | On the Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy | 1984 | — | 2.5K | ✕ |
| 6 | Political Opportunity Structures and Political Protest: Anti-N... | 1986 | British Journal of Pol... | 2.5K | ✕ |
| 7 | The Logic of Violence in Civil War | 2006 | Cambridge University P... | 2.4K | ✕ |
| 8 | « Stefan Breuer : Die Völkischen in Deutschland. Kaiserreich u... | 2011 | HAL (Le Centre pour la... | 1.9K | ✓ |
| 9 | Domination and the Arts of Resistance | 2007 | — | 1.5K | ✕ |
| 10 | Social Movement Continuity: The Women's Movement in Abeyance | 1989 | American Sociological ... | 1.3K | ✕ |
Frequently Asked Questions
What explains why some leaders survive political crises?
Bueno de Mesquita et al. (2003) in "The Logic of Political Survival" argue that leaders prioritize coalitions for survival over public goods, explaining why corrupt rulers endure while prosperous ones fall. The work, with 4011 citations, models selectorate theory across regimes.
Why do men rebel according to key theories?
Gurr (1970) in "Why men rebel," cited 3537 times, posits relative deprivation as the core driver of political violence. Published amid 1960s global unrest, it frames conflicts from perceived gaps between expectations and capabilities.
How do political opportunity structures affect protests?
Kitschelt (1986) in "Political Opportunity Structures and Political Protest: Anti-Nuclear Movements in Four Democracies," with 2461 citations, shows structures like elite divisions enable anti-nuclear movements in democracies. Comparative analysis reveals varying protest success across four cases since the 1960s.
What sustains social movements during repression?
Taylor (1989) in "Social Movement Continuity: The Women's Movement in Abeyance," cited 1339 times, introduces abeyance structures that preserve women's activism from 1945-1960s. These informal networks maintain continuity when overt protest halts.
What role does hegemony play in socialist strategy?
Mouffe and Laclau (1985) in "Hegemony and Socialist Strategy," with 3125 citations, redefine left strategies through discourse and chains of equivalence. It shifts from class essentialism to radical democracy via hegemonic articulation.
How does violence logic operate in civil wars?
Kalyvas (2006) in "The Logic of Violence in Civil War," cited 2437 times, reveals selective violence driven by local control, not ideology alone. Micro-level data challenges macro narratives of civil conflict.
Open Research Questions
- ? How do selectorate sizes and loyalty norms predict regime stability beyond Bueno de Mesquita et al. (2003)?
- ? What updates Gurr's (1970) relative deprivation model for 21st-century conflicts?
- ? In what ways do political opportunity structures evolve in non-democratic settings post-Kitschelt (1986)?
- ? How do abeyance structures adapt to digital-era repression after Taylor (1989)?
- ? What micro-foundations extend Kalyvas (2006) logic of violence to urban protests?
Recent Trends
The field holds 77,373 works with no specified five-year growth rate.
No preprints from the last six months or news coverage in the past 12 months indicate steady focus on historical 1960s-1970s movements without recent surges.
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