Demonstrations are without a doubt the most common form of political expression, more so in democratic nations — where its legitimacy competes, relatively happily, with more conventional forms of participation such as the vote — than in non-democratic countries, where demonstration accompanies attempts to revolt and overthrow.
In this book, which includes updated information from the original French version, the authors offer a sociological and historical analysis of this political mode of action, with its norms and rules, its myths and legends, its glorious episodes and its darkest hours. But most of all, beyond a classic interrogation on the place of demonstration in the repertoire of contemporary action and political struggle, Demonstrations is also an analysis of the demonstrators themselves, providing us with insight into their passions and convictions.