Poor people's movements

This book analyzes four significant social movements in the United States: the Unemployed Workers' Movement of the Great Depression, the Industrial Workers' Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Welfare Rights Movement.

Piven and Cloward argue that disruption and mass protest are more effective than organized, bureaucratic movements in achieving social change.

They contend that attempts to build long-term organizations often lead to co-optation by elites, reducing the movements' radical impact.