Transforming Politics: Power and Resistance

Abstract

Politics transform and can be transformed; transforming politics is the theme that runs through the contributions to this collection. Twenty-five years ago a book such as this might have been preoccupied with questions such as neo-marxist state theory, general theories of power, and analyses of political behaviour restricted to voting patterns. Much of this would probably have been preoccupied with class-based power and resistance. While questions of the relationship of politics, political transformation, power and resistance are of recurrent importance in most, perhaps all, societies, they have a special relevance within contemporary British society and contemporary sociological analysis. The social divisions and political questions that run through this book reflect the major changes to the social, intellectual and sociological landscapes that have occurred since the 1970s. These changes in turn show the intellectual and social impact of social movements, even though in recent years the peaks of mobilisation may have passed for the moment. Class is no longer the central 'independent variable' of British sociological analysis, and this is reflected in this collection where questions of gender, sexuality, ethnicity and the environment loom large. Often these are grouped together as questions of 'identity politics' or 'new social movements'. However, this collection is not limited to these dimensions.