The resurgence of social movements

Abstract

Starting in the early seventies, the sociological debate on social movements opposed mainly two perspectives, illustrated on the one hand by Charles Tilly, and on the other hand by Alain Touraine, that this article follows. The concept of "social movement" has been used in order to analyse the working class movement, the new social movements, and the global movements. Is it usefull to analyse the struggles that developped recently within the muslim and/or arab world, and the actors that have been called "indignados" in Spain and that appeared in many countries? Is there any unity in these movements ?