To the Left, Right or Nowhere? Social Movements and Social Change

Certain years such as 1848, 1871 1917, 1939, 1968, times of mass mobilizations and transitions remain notable historic moments. So too will 2011 be remembered as a time in which there was an upsurge of democratic mobilizations from Arab Spring to Russian Winter, and in between, Israeli Summer, the Occupy Wall Street movements, the Indignados and Greek protests. But we should not think that this has been a time solely of progressive movements -we have also seen a variety of reactionary movements from the Tea Party to various Islamists (Salafis) and right wing, nationalist/xenophobic (anti Islamic) and indeed neo Nazi movements in Europe-even in places like Finland or the Netherlands. It is always easy for historians to look back and trace the origins, meanings and consequences of such mobilizations, but it is far more difficult to examine these movements as they are happening and surmise the implications-especially now given the dialectic of progressive and regressive mobilizations. In this panel, a number of eminent scholars will consider the nature of these movements, analyze their causes and implications.