Helena Flam

Most research on social movements has ignored the significance of emotions. This edited volume seeks to redress this oversight and introduces new research themes and tools to the field of emotions and social movements. Sociologists and political activists around the world will find this volume to be of great interest due to its wide-ranging approach and its unique emphasis on the role of emotion in protest, dissent and social movements.

Most research on social movements has ignored the significance of emotions. This edited volume seeks to redress this oversight and introduces new research themes and tools to the field of emotions and social movements. Sociologists and political activists around the world will find this volume to be of great interest due to its wide-ranging approach and its unique emphasis on the role of emotion in protest, dissent and social movements.

This book presents three social action models - rational, normative and emotional. It proposes the emotional model of social action and shows the many ways in which social structures, formal organizations and social movements are pervaded by emotions. The core of the book contains three empirical case studies focused on the question of how emotions, interests and symbolic worlds account for conformism and defiance. Its last part assesses the current state of the theory of social movements and the sociology of emotions. It suggests how their agendas could be expanded.

This text draws on archival data and interviews conducted with communists, dissidents and by-standers in Poland and East Germany. Helena Flam grounds the interviews in knowledge of the Soviet systems which evolved in contrasting ways in the two countries. She concludes by placing the research results in a wider context of east European transitions to democracy and post-transition effects, and provides comparative data on repression.

Discussing the role of intellectuals in the political transition of the late 1980s and early 1990s and their participation in the political life of the new democracies of Central Europe, this book presents original essays from authors who discuss the eight countries in the region. In the Introduction, the editor gives a historical overview of the tradition of the political involvement of intellectuals in these countries, especially in the nineteenth century. The chapters which follow describe the typical political and social attitude of Central European intellectuals, including writers, poets, artists, and scientists. A unique feature of the book is that it deals not only with the role of intellectuals in the preparation of the peaceful revolutions in the individual countries, but also critically analyzes their role in the transition and their behavior in the emerging democracies. The most striking phenomenon, common to all the countries studied, is the disillusionment of intellectuals and their disappointment in the years following the transition, a period when the role of prophet should be replaced by that of politician for those who have chosen to stay in politics. This phenomenon has, in general, been much less subjected to systematic study than the role of intellectuals in the changes themselves.

The Shaping of Social Organization introduces a new social theory - social rule system theory - and shows how it can provide fresh insights into the major institutions of modern social life. The book advances a distinctive approach to the study of actor-structure dynamics, placing itself in a rich scholarly tradition developed by major thinkers such as Weber, Lindblom, Giddens and Goffman. It presents social rule system theory as a framework with which to investigate social institutions, and clarifies the principles behind their formation, maintenance and transformation. Drawing on a wide range of case studies, the authors also demonstrate the relevance of the theory for research programs. As a result, they are able to provide innovative perspectives on the structure and performance of markets, information, technocracy and the sources of social and structural incoherence in modern societies. The Shaping of Social Organization was among the finalists for the amalfi European Prize in Sociology and Social Science.

The Shaping of Social Organization introduces a new social theory - social rule system theory - and shows how it can provide fresh insights into the major institutions of modern social life. The book advances a distinctive approach to the study of actor-structure dynamics, placing itself in a rich scholarly tradition developed by major thinkers such as Weber, Lindblom, Giddens and Goffman. It presents social rule system theory as a framework with which to investigate social institutions, and clarifies the principles behind their formation, maintenance and transformation. Drawing on a wide range of case studies, the authors also demonstrate the relevance of the theory for research programs. As a result, they are able to provide innovative perspectives on the structure and performance of markets, information, technocracy and the sources of social and structural incoherence in modern societies. The Shaping of Social Organization was among the finalists for the amalfi European Prize in Sociology and Social Science.