The concepts of power and democracy have been extensively studied at the global, national and local levels and within institutions including states, international organizations and political parties. However, the interplay of those concepts within social movements is given far less attention. Studies have so far mainly focused on their protest activities rather than the internal practices of deliberation and democratic decision-making. Meeting Democracy presents empirical research that examines in detail how power is distributed and how consensus is reached in twelve global justice movement organizations, with detailed observations of how they operate in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. Written by leading political scientists and sociologists, this work contributes significantly to the wider literature on power and deliberative democracy within political science and sociology.

‘With but a few notable exceptions, scholarship on social movements reflects an outsider’s perspective. But in this exceptional collection, the contributors take us inside global justice groups to describe and analyze the movements' unique brand of participatory democracy. The result is as rich an empirical portrait of the internal dynamics of a movement as has been produced to date.’

Doug McAdam - Stanford University

‘In this truly ambitious project, the authors set out to provide an inside look at decision making in the global justice movement - using fine-grained discourse analysis and participant observation of countless meetings in twelve organizations in six countries. The result is not only a fascinating picture of what movement democracy looks like today, but also new insight into enduring questions about the conditions for equality in talk, the role of emotions in strategic decision making, and the possibilities of deliberative democracy in the here and now. A signal achievement.’

Francesca Polletta - University of California, Irvine

‘Revelatory. We really have learned something since the sixties. With incisive descriptions, interviews, and unsentimental analysis, this book takes you into GJM meetings, through controversy and concord, to demonstrate in concrete detail not only how hot-headed, dismissive and unconsciously exclusionary, but also - and more dominantly - how inclusive, mutually respectful, and deliberatory these new institutions and activists can be.’

Jane Mansbridge - Harvard University