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Based on the premise that risks emanating from technologies with catastrophic potential (eg, atomic energy, atomic weapons, toxic chemicals, biogenetics) are the main unresolved problems, of advanced industrial societies, avoidance has become the central objective of such new social movements as the peace, antinuclear, & environmental movements. These movements are defined by their concern with technologies having catastrophic potential, & their demand for political sovereignty vis-a-vis the state that promotes these technologies. The SE & sociopolitical preconditions for new social movements are discussed. On the one hand, industrial capitalism & international competition increase the negative externalities of industrial production & the proclivity for technological risks; on the other, the interventionist state supports, manages, & regulates the production of risk technologies. Though new social movements lack a coherent sociostructural basis, clear-cut political objectives, & consistent organizational structures, they compensate for these deficiences by establishing a set of shared fundamental beliefs. In comparing US & West German new social movements, it is suggested that US movements have chosen a seclusion, & West German movements, a confrontational orientation, in dealing with the political system. Modified AA

New Social Movements, Class, and the Environment explores the history of Greenpeace Canada from 1971 to 2010 and its relationship to the working class. In order to understand the ideology behind Greenpeace, the author investigates its structure, personnel

An exploration of the concept of elites in new social movements using the example of the West German peace movement (WGPM) of the early 1980s. The assumptions that these movements have a very limited internal division of labor, & that they represent isolated subcultures within society are examined. WGPM entrepreneurs mobilized individuals &, based on their success, became elites within the movement, creating a division of labor. In addition, the movement itself had links with other sociopolitical sectors; it was not an isolated subculture. 3 Tables, 1 Figure, 50 References. A. Cole

The framing strategies of social movements are typically characterized by movement actors conceptually and rhetorically expanding frames. We contend that movement actors also contract frames by deliberately excluding frame elements. We add the concept of contraction to the frame-alignment construct and show how frame contraction allows for enhanced theorizing about the dialectical and dynamic nature of social movements. We describe three distinct frame contraction processes, frame removal, frame minimization, and frame restriction, which characterize common frame contraction strategies. We illustrate frame contraction by examining the framing approaches used by the United Auto Workers as they bargained with automakers across two rounds of negotiations in 1945–46 and 1949–1950. We show how frame contraction articulates undertheorized complexities in changes to social movement frames. We also illustrate potential blind spots, biases, or distortions that may arise absent the frame contraction construct.