Book Review: Hank Johnston, What is a Social Movement?
| Published date | 01 February 2017 |
| Date | 01 February 2017 |
| Author | Savita Sagar |
| DOI | 10.1177/1478929916674591 |
| Subject Matter | Book ReviewsGeneral Politics |
Book Reviews 129
What is a Social Movement? by Hank
Johnston. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2014. 194pp.,
£14.99 (p/b), ISBN 9780745660851
The book is an intensive assessment of social
movements and how social scientists have his-
torically analysed them. The significant contri-
bution of the book is its focus on the changes and
developments which have occurred in the field
of social movement research. Hank Johnston
presents an inclusive and empirical definition of
social movements by reviewing their theoretical
and practical aspects. He proceeds to examine
how social movements have originated and
where they are headed, detailing various forms
of social movements – for example, political and
cultural – along the way. The author also
acknowledges the significance of the structural
dimension of social movements, which includes
studying groups and organisation and network
structures.
A fundamental argument of this study is that
social movements are a crucial factor in making
governments responsible and bringing about
social change, not only in democracies but in
non-democracies as well. Through the modus
operandi of analysing historical-comparative,
qualitative and quantitative methodology,
Johnston connects this to the ideational, struc-
tural, organisational and performative approach.
However, the emphasis is on the performative
metaphor for understanding contentious events.
Furthermore, the study looks at both earlier
social movements and the relatively more
recent movements such as Occupy (2011) and
Turkish protests (2013) to differentiate between
them. The final chapter provides an overview
and suggests that for social movements to be a
more effective medium of mass mobilisation at
the global level, digital technology needs to be
used by them.
As an overview, one can say that the
book’s title, ‘What is a social movement?’ is
very well justified. Johnston provides a
nuanced understanding of contemporary soci-
ety through the study of social movements,
looking at them in theory and practice from a
broad perspective. The book is a realist con-
tribution to the debate on social theory and the
research methodology of social movements.
The uniqueness of the study is the methodo-
logical aspects of the work and its innovative
attempt to bring the cultural dimension into
the study of social movements. The concep-
tual framework has been built on the edifice
of the author’s practical observations on
social movements.
Johnston’s arguments seem plausible, as
he has sought to strike a balance between
theory and research and framed his argu-
ments accordingly. Acknowledging earlier
studies and discussing them alongside recent
studies, Johnston avoids any potential anom-
alies in his coverage and offers the reader an
open-ended scope to understand and develop
a perspective on the concept of social move-
ments. In essence, the book is not only well
written, but it also makes easy reading. As a
focused study of social movements as a cate-
gory, it provides a valuable addition to the
social science literature, specifically political
science. From a macro perspective, the book
is aimed at both the student and general
reader, and it will be beneficial to profession-
als and scholars alike.
Savita Sagar
(Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi)
© The Author(s) 2016
Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1478929916674591
journals.sagepub.com/home/psrev
Shaping Global Health Policy: Global Social
Policy Actors and Ideas About Health Care
Systems by Alexandra Kaasch. Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. 172pp., £60.00 (h/b),
ISBN 9781137308887
In an increasingly globalised world, interna-
tional and global organisations influence ever
more aspects of social life and policy deci-
sions. While health policy and thus the organ-
isation of health care systems (HCS) are
generally considered an almost exclusively
national domain, a growing number of inter-
national organisations exist that aim to
develop ideas about HCS and to influence
their design. The monograph by Alexandra
Kaasch, a global social policy researcher,
aims to provide an overview of a wide range
of these international actors involved in
debates around HCS. Analysing policy docu-
ments, the author reviews each organisation’s
expressed purpose for involvement with HCS
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