Introduction

This book explores the relationship between social movements and democracy in social and political thought. It does so in the context of arguments about the exclusions and mobilizations generated by gender hierarchies and the impact of globalization. Two interrelated questions are considered. What is the role and significance of movements in democracy according to social and political theorists? Conversely in what ways do movements disrupt the assumptions of social and political theorists and point toward alternative understandings and practices of democracy? These questions are examined with a particular focus on feminism, which is both a social movement and a range of theoretical approaches, and which has struggled at length with the problems and possibilities of democracy.