Introduction performing citizenship: Social movements across the globe1

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. It deals with social mobilization in Spain during the late Franco regime and examines the growth of Chinese social movements by focusing on the interactions of local NGOs with transnational civil society (TCS). Looking at different international NGOs, Chen analyzes their affects on the activism of local NGOs and on the government’s relationship towards them. The book also deals with the emergence of collective social activism under a non-democratic regime. It analyzes the conceptualization of citizenship in post-World War Japan. Avenell examines transnational interactions among social movement actors in the anti-Vietnam War movement and in environmental movements from the mid-1960s and their transformative influence on post-national imaginaries of citizenship. Finally, the book reviews the impact of the struggle of the indigenous of Chiapas, Mexico, as a multiscalar event, analyzing its influence and inspiration for the cycle of transnational online protests using information technologies.