With extensive use of case materials, this volume describes and analyzes the significance of social movements like the struggle for abortion rights and gay rights for the large-scale transformations of key aspects of gender and family. Gender and social movements are also linked in a way that shows how events of the 19th century are relevant to understanding the struggles for change today.
Citing the critical importance of empirical work to social movement research, the editors of this volume have put together the first systematic overview of the major methods used by social movement theorists. Original chapters cover the range of techniques: surveys, formal models, discourse analysis, in-depth interviews, participant observation, case studies, network analysis, historical methods, protest event analysis, macro-organizational analysis, and comparative politics. Each chapter includes a methodological discussion, examples of studies employing the method, an examination of its strengths and weaknesses, and practical guidelines for its application.