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New research on social movement from SPIRe just published in a special issue of Democratization (Vol. 22, Issue 2, 2015) from SPIRe’s Dr. Vincent Durac.

Abstract: This article explores the utility of social movement theory, reviewing conceptual developments and its application to Middle East cases before examining its relevance to the Arab uprisings. The initial youth-led new social movements were non-ideological, leaderless, and lacking in clear organizational structures. As the protest movements spread, they grew to encompass a diverse array of other movements and actors: The breadth and diversity of these coalitions made the successful achievement of their core demands for regime change possible. However, the persistence of ideological cleavages within them made agreement on the post-regime change political order near impossible.

The full paper can be found here.