For anyone hoping to understand worldwide protests against privatization and retrenchment, Mobilizing Democracy is essential reading.
Edwin Amenta American Journal of Sociology The literature on Central American responses to globalization is relatively sparse, which makes this text an important contribution... Highly recommended. Choice The dynamics of local mass mobilization in the global South in the era of globalization cannot ... Read morebe reduced to a simple reaction against global forces as tended to be the case in the massive citizens' protests such as the 'IMF' riots interpretations. The legacy of the earlier state-led development period in particular offered a springboard for action today. Protecting the state infrastructure has been a major strand in moving into the post neoliberal period and this again sets a different context from the notion of 'new' globalization in an absolutely novel way.
Ronaldo Munck Journal of Social Policy Paul Almeida's empirically rich account of social protests in the six Central American countries studied in Mobilizing Democracy significantly advances understandings of the conditions under which mass protest campaigns take hold, or fail to emerge.
Par Engstrom International Affairs Mobilizing Democracy is an extremely interesting read and an important addition not only to the social movement literature, but also to the sociology of the global south in general, and South and Central America, specifically. It will undoubtedly be a valuable resource in classes about social movements, the state, economic sociology, and the sociology of globalization and democratization. Contemporary Sociology [Mobilizing Democracy] provides an excellent primer for understanding collective mobilization in an oft-neglected part of the world. Political Studies Review Show Less