Polite Protesters

In the early 1980s sociologist John Lofland became actively involved in the American peace movement. He took part in numerous peace campaigns for nuclear disarmament, the test ban, and SANE/Freeze in Europe and the United States. He has served on a variety of organizing boards and was arrested for civil resistance activities. In his latest book Lofland puts this experience to excellent use. Polite Protesters blends a unique personal perspective with his professional ability to assess the importance, and, long-lasting effect of the American peace movement of the 1980s and to present it in a cogent and compelling manner.

Lofland brings his wealth of knowledge about social movements and collective behavior to this sociological study. His analyses reveal a peace movement with organization, culture, and tactics quite different from those of the 1960s and 1970s. The radicals of the 1980s were “polite protesters,” more likely to turn to the politics of interest groups and lobbyists than to that of involved demonstrations and flag burnings.

Telling how this movement was both similar to and different from other movements, Lofland explores the dynamics of its dramatic surge and decline, why it both grew and withered with great rapidity. But Polite Protesters is not simply about the American peace movement as genteel protesters. The detailed analysis Lofland offers is developed with a strong concern for the comparative study of social movements and conceived with that aim in mind. In learning about the peace movement, the reader also learns a great deal about all movements, especially those that practice civil protest, a pattern that is becoming more common among the movements of our time.