The multiple traditions of social movement research
Theorising intellectual diversity
This paper reflects on the implications of the contemporary diversity of intellectual approaches to the study of social movements. Sketching some of the key dimensions of difference in the field, it explores the norma-tive intellectual questions raised by /acknowledging this diversity as well as the intellectual history questions involved in explaining it. In a global perspective, the question of what a " social movement studies of the global South " might mean exemplifies the challenge involved. The paper draws on Aristotle's typology of knowledge to suggest some ways of handling this situation, before concluding with some open questions.
The author
Laurence Cox is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the National University of Ireland Maynooth where he supervises a doctoral program of participatory action research in social movements. He has published more than fifty books, articles and chapters on social and religious movements, including We Make Our Own History; Understanding European Movements; and Marxism and Social Movements. Dr Cox is co-founder of the journal Interface, one of the best-known international journals for the study of social movements, and founded the Council of European Studies' social movement research network.
The text
Text produced during his activity at the College of Global Studies (FMSH, Associate Director of Studies 2016-17).
