This article compares the development of the “neighborhood movement” in the United States and the German Bürgerinitiativbewegung from the late 1960s to the present. The interconnections between neighborhood action and bureaucratic reaction are worked out on the background of some dimensions of the political context of both societies and analyzed for two phases. In addition to this, criteria of the social movement theory are applied to neighborhood action, and its potential for creating a social movement is discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BARONI, G. (1983) “The neighborhood movement in the United States: From the 1960s to the present,” in P. L. Clay and R. M. Hollister (eds.) Neighborhood Policy and Planning. Lexington, MA: Lexington.
2.
BRAND, K.-W. (1982) Neue soziale Bewegungen. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag.
3.
EMENLAUER, R. (1974) “Zum Praxisbezug einer politisch-okonomischen Theorie kommunaler Konflikte,” in R. Emenlaueret al. (eds.) Die Kommune in der Staatsorganisation. Frankfurt/M: Suhrkamp.
4.
EVERS, A. (1975) “Agglomerationsprozeβ und Staatsfunktionen,” in R.-R. Grauhan (ed.) Lokale Politikforschung, Bd. 1. Frankfurt/M: Campus.
5.
FASSBINDER, H. (1971) “Kapitalistische Stadtplanung und die Illusion demokratischer Burgerinitiative.”Probleme des Klassenkampfs, Sonderheft1: 71-98.
6.
FRANZ, P. (1978) “Soziologische Theorien und Gemeinwesenarbeit—ein Versuch ihrer theoretischen Fundierung.”Archiv fur Wissenschaft und Praxis der sozialen Arbeit8: 253-267.
7.
HIRSCHMAN, A. O. (1970) Exit, Voice, and Loyalty. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.
8.
MEYER, M. (1982) “The profile of contemporary neighborhood movements,” in G.-M. Hellsternet al. (eds.), Applied urban research, Vol. II. Bonn: Bundesforschungsanstalt für Landeskunde und Raumordnung.
9.
McCARTHY, J. D. and N. M. ZALD (1973) The Trend of Social Movements in America: Professionalization and Resource Mobilization. Morristown, NJ: General Learning.
10.
OLIVER, P. (1984) “`If you don't do it, nobody else will': active and token contributors to local collective action.”Amer. Soc. Rev.49: 601-610.
11.
ROTH, R. (1985) “Neue soziale Bewegungen in der politischen Kultur der Bundesrepublik—eine vorläufige Skizze,” in K.-W. Brand (ed.) Neue soziale Bewegungen in Westeuropa und in den USA. Frankfurt: Campus.
12.
WARREN, D. I. (1982a) “Public policy and the balance between formal and informal problem coping systems in urban communities: recent responses in the U.S. and Europe.” Working paper presented to the Ch. F. Kettering Foundation Conference on Welfare State Trends, Bellagio, Italy.
13.
WARREN, D. I. (1982b) Helping Networks. Notre Dame, IN: Univ. of Notre Dame Press.
