Challenging Codes Collective Action in the Information Age [Hardcover]

Leading social movements theorist examines collective action in the context of the information society.Emphasizing the role of culture and making telling connections with the experience of the individual in postmodern society, this study's focus is on the role of information in a world both fragmented and globalized. The book builds on Nomads of the Present (1989), and is a companion volume to The Playing Self (CUP, 1996).Emphasizing the role of culture and making telling connections with the experience of the individual in postmodern society, this study's focus is on the role of information in a world both fragmented and globalized. The book builds on Nomads of the Present (1989), and is a companion volume to The Playing Self (CUP, 1996).Alberto Melucci brings an original perspective to research on collective action, emphasizing the role of culture and making telling connections with the experience of the individual in postmodern society. The focus is on the role of information in a world both fragmented and globalized, and topics addressed include political conflict, feminism, ecology, identity politics, power and inequality. The book builds on the author's Nomads of the Present (1989), and is a companion volume to The Playing Self (CUP, 1996).Introduction; Part I. Theory of Collective Action: 1. The construction of collective action; 2. Conflict and change; 3. Action and meaning; 4. The process of collective identity; Part II. Contemporary Collective Action: 5. conflicts of culture; 6. Invention of the present; 7. The time of difference; 8. Roots for today and for tomorrow; 9. A search for ethics; 10. Information, power, domination; Part III. The Field of Collective Action: 11. A society without a centre; 12. The political system; 13. The state and the distribution of social resources; 14. Modernization, crisis, and conflict: the case of Italy; Part IV. Acting Collectively: 15. Mobilization and political participation; 16. The organization of movements; 17. Lel£(