Doug McAdam and David A. Snow's Social Movements: Readings on Their Emergence, Mobilization, and Dynamics is intended for use in courses on social movements, collective behavior, and political sociology.

The reader is distinctive in several respects:

* The book is organized sequentially and logically, to facilitate understanding of the dynamics of social movements--from their emergence, through the micromobilization process and tactical action, to outcomes and consequences. This reader is not wedded to a single approach, but exposes students to both resource mobilization and cultural thinking about social movements.

* Thought-provoking introductions to each section guide the reader and ease instruction by providing a modular "road map" that highlights key issues and the major contributions of each selection. This lends internal cohesiveness and structure to the articles.

* The book covers a wide range of social movements, including the civil rights, women's, pro-choice, and animal rights movements. Also included are works on other types of collective action, such as riots and revolution. A comprehensive appendix provides instructors with alternatives for using the selections.

* A significant number of articles in the book are devoted to gender and to cultural issues in relation to social movements