THE NATURE and significance of social movements have been the subject of considerable debate in recent years, with academics comparing and contrasting “newer” and typically identity-based social movements with “older” movements rooted in the class-based politics of the left.
[[{"fid":"14602","view_mode":"inlineright","fields":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-inlineright","data-delta":"1"}}]]Are traditional class politics being superseded as some, such as French sociologist Andre Gortz, have been suggesting? Farewell to the working class and hello to “middle-class ideological radicalism,” he has argued.
Or have class politics been re-energised in recent years in response to the politics of austerity, combining economic struggles with broad-based campaigns for equality and environmental justice?



