Routledge Power and Transnational Activism (Rethinking Globalizations)

Product Description This book focuses on global activism and uses a power perspective to provide an in-depth and coherent analysis of both the possibilities and limitations of global activism. Bringing together scholars from IR, sociology, and political science, this book offers new and critical insights on global activism and power. It features case studies on the following social and political issues: China and Tibet, HIV/AIDS, climate change, child labour, the WTO, women and the UN, the global public sphere, regional integration, national power, world social forums, policing, media power and global civil society. It will be of interest to students and scholars of globalization, global sociology and international politics. Review ‘One of the most appreciated virtues of civil society is its ability to frame old or neglected issues in innovative ways. Olesen’s edited volume provides an important contribution to this debate on transnational activism. Contrasting civil society capacity to frame new discursive opportunity structures at the international level to the resilient ability of the state to exert restraining power at the national level, the book opens up new avenues to understand the power of civil society actors together with its limits.’ - Raffaele Marchetti, Lecturer of International Relations, Department of Political Science, LUISS and University of Naples L'Orientale, Italy ‘Here is a valuable collection in which top-rate thinkers offer diverse assessments of the place of transnational counter-publics in contemporary politics. It is an important question, and the book offers novel and interesting answers.’ - Jan Aart Scholte, University of Warwick, UK About the Author Thomas Olesen is associate professor, Ph.D. in the Department of Political Science, University of Aarhus, Denmark. His research interests are social movements, media, solidarity and globalization. Recent publications include International Zapatismo: The Construction of Solidarity in the Age of Globalization (London: Zed Books, 2005). He is currently working on two research projects: one on solidarity movements, distant issues and globalization in Denmark in the period from 1945 to 2008, and another on global activism and communication.