'Melucci provides a magisterial presentation of his distinctive approach to the study of contemporary social movement.' Mayer Zald, University of Michigan

• Introduction; Part I. Theory of Collective Action: 1. The construction of collective action; 2. Conflict and change; 3. Action and meaning; 4. The process of collective identity; Part II. Contemporary Collective Action: 5. conflicts of culture; 6. Invention of the present; 7. The time of difference; 8. Roots for today and for tomorrow; 9. A search for ethics; 10. Information, power, domination; Part III. The Field of Collective Action: 11. A society without a centre; 12. The political system; 13. The state and the distribution of social resources; 14. Modernization, crisis, and conflict: the case of Italy; Part IV. Acting Collectively: 15. Mobilization and political participation; 16. The organization of movements; 17. Leadership in social movements; 18. Collective action and discourse; 19. Forms of action; 20. Research on collective action.