ABSTRACT
Alain Touraine’s work has not yet received the recognition it merits in the Anglo-Saxon world of the social sciences; certainly not as much as others who have written less prodigiously of collective action and social movements (Neidhardt and Rucht, 1991: 435, 436). One does find, however, that over the last ten years some of his sociological insights have gained a wider hearing (Cohen and Arato, 1994; Rucht, 1991; Pakulski, 1991; Eder, 1993c; Pickvance, 1995). But by and large the overwhelming bulk of his work still evades an international audience, one for whom he remains a rather unknown figure.
