Political Altruism: Solidarity Movements in International Perspective

(Paperback)

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Political Altruism deals with participation in political activities aimed at defending the rights of other individuals and groups, such as asylum seekers, immigrant workers, populations of Third World countries, and people whose fundamental human rights are being harmed. Solidarity movements have become an important collective actor in contemporary western societies, yet virtually no scholarly work up to now has addressed them theoretically and empirically.

Reviews

...the intriguing issues raised by Political Altruism and its contribution in opening an important debate. * Social Forces *
The principal virtue of Political Altrusim is that it moves the debate on altruism toward empirical case studies. This does not mean that the book is devoid of theoretical concerns. Quite the contrary. The introductory chapters by Florence Passy and Charles Tilly, and the concluding chapter by Marco Guigni, address the difficulty of defining the concept of altruism. Yet those of us who have a tendency to approach altruism froma a philosophical perspective are reminded that there is much to be learnt from exploring examples of altruism in action. * Political Studies Review *
In defiance of narrow-minded theories in the social sciencesas well as repressive statescitizens around the world continue to take collective action to help others. People take risks on behalf of others less fortunate and try to make the world more just when it would be easier to do nothing. Marco Giugni and Florence Passy have assembled a thoughtful book that explains why, how, and when. This important book will redefine our thinking about self-interest and social movements. -- David S. Meyer, University of California, Irvine

Author Bio

Marco Giugni is a researcher at the Department of Political Science at the University of Geneva. He has authored or coauthored several books and articles on social movements. He is the author of Entre stratZgie et opportunitZ (1995), coauthor of New Social Movements in Western Europe (1995) and Histoires de mobilisation politiques en Suisse (1997), and coeditor of From Contention to Democracy (1998) and How Social Movements Matter (1999). His current research focuses on mobilization over ethnic relations, citizenship and immigration in a cross-national comparative project (MERCI). Florence Passy is assistant professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Geneva. She has written extensively on social movements and political participation. She is the author of LOaction altruiste (1998) and coauthor of Histoires de mobilisation politiques en Suisse (1997). Her current research focuses on mobilization over ethnic relations, citizenship and immigration in a cross-national comparative project (MERCI).