ABSTRACT
The major paradigms and alternative strands created a rich context for critical debates, conceptual cross-fertilization, and potential syntheses. The cultural turn in social theory had its counterpart in the revival of cultural sociology. Collective action is 'normalized' when it is seen as an extension of politics as usual. It is normalized when the distinction between normative and nonnormative tactics is minimized. Although Piven and Cloward challenged dominant movement paradigms, the study of revolutions has been largely divorced from social movement theory. McAdams's articulation of the political process alternative also grew out of particular criticisms of resource mobilization theory. The tendency of resource mobilization and political process theories to downplay grievances, ideology, and culture opened the door to social constructionist and framing approaches. The centrality of political process theories and political process theories in the synthesis also reflects their prominence in mainstream literature at the time.
