Synopses & Reviews
The world's democracies cheered as the social movements of the Arab Spring ended the reigns of longstanding dictators and ushered in the possibility of democracy. Yet these unique transitions also fit into a broader pattern of democratic breakthroughs around the globe, where political leaders emerge from the pro-democracy movement that helped affect change. In
Social Movements and the New State, Brian Grodsky examines the relationships between new political elites and the civil society organizations that brought them to power in three culturally and geographically disparate countriesPoland, South Africa, and Georgia.
This book argues that the identities and personal networks developed during the struggle provide "movement activists" with opportunities to influence minor issues, but that new and differing institutional pressures create schisms on broader policy that can turn prior bonds into a liability rather than an asset. Drawing on media analyses and more than 150 elite interviews, Grodsky offers a rare empirical assessment of the degree to which social movement organizations shape activists' beliefs and actions over the long term.
Review
"As the events of Arab Spring remind us, popular movements have emerged as a major source of regime change. But there exists little systematic scholarship on the relationship between these movements and the governments they help spawn. In this timely book, Brian K. Grodsky explores exceptionally rich comparative case studies of the evolving and complicated relationship between popular struggles and 'movement states' in Poland, South Africa, and Georgia. His work should find a large and enthusiastic audience in comparative politics and social movement studies."Doug McAdam, Stanford University
Review
"A carefully researched and theoretically innovative contribution to comparative politics."Laura Henry, Bowdoin College
Review
"A carefully researched and theoretically innovative contribution to comparative politics."Laura Henry, Bowdoin College
"Grodsky's rich comparison of Poland, South Africa and Georgia helps those who wish to deepen democracy and not only end authoritarianism. With a common tale of civil society enabling democratic breakthrough followed by movements' alienation from erstwhile comrades in state power, Grodsky may not tell us what is to be done, but does tell us what happened."Michael D. Kennedy, Professor of Sociology and International Studies, Brown University
Review
"Grodsky offers an excellent analysis of the fate of social movements when they gain the reigns of governmental power. In examining three successful social movements (Poland, South Africa, and Georgia), the author claims individual actors and their personal relationships are the critical factors . . . Recommended."S. Majstorovic, CHOICE
Review
"Social Movements and the New State has much to offer scholars and policy practitioners seeking to better understand the roles and limitations of social movements in this process. The book speaks most directly to academicians, especially those specializing in social movements and political regimes. However, Grodsky's work should also appeal to a wider audience, especially because it illuminates issues such as the role of social movements and civil society in supporting transparent governance and the proper limits of that role when it comes to policy access and influence."Samuel Handlin, Public Integrity
Review
"Grodsky's book is a long-awaited study explaining the path of social movement organizations after regime change."Paulina Pospieszna, Journal of Peace Research
Synopsis
This book analyzes the behavior of social movement leaders after they move into positions of power in the state, and the resulting relations between these actors and their long-time friends and colleagues who continue to remain active in the social movement organizations.
Synopsis
This book analyzes the long-term development of pro-democracy social movement organizations after democratic breakthrough. Typically, many leaders of successful movement organizations enter the state upon democratic breakthroughbut does this empower or weaken the mission of the organizations left behind? Despite the fact that the United States annually spends hundreds of millions of dollars supporting pro-democracy civil society organizations around the world, very little is known about the efficacy of these powerful organizations after regime change. This book argues that identities and personal networks developed during the struggle provide movement activists with opportunities to influence minor issues, but that new and differing institutional pressures create schisms on broader policy that can turn prior bonds into a liability rather than an asset. The author evaluates these arguments using evidence from media analyses and approximately 150 in-depth elite interviews in Poland, South Africa and Georgia.
About the Author
Brian Grodsky is currently an Assistant Professor of Comparative Politics at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and a graduate of University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Ph.D., August 2006). His research interests include human rights, transitional justice, democratization, global civil society, social movements and U.S. foreign policy. His book, The Costs of Justice, has been recently published with University of Notre Dame Press (2010), and his articles have appeared in journals including European Journal of International Relations, Journal of Peace Research, Government and Opposition, Journal of Human Rights, Slavic Review, International Studies Review, Human Rights Review, World Affairs, Problems of Post-Communism, Central Asian Survey and Journal of Central Asian Studies.