When do movements arise? What do the organizers do to mobilize people and motivate them to stay? How do they deal with fence-sitters and movement foes? Why do some movements scale up and become transnational? Why do movements dissipate? This course, designed as an overview of the social movements and contentious politics literature, will help you explore these questions. We will go over the primary theoretical building blocks, such as political opportunities, resource mobilization, and framing, and apply them to specific cases. Students will investigate movements of their choice for a research project.