Even Newer Social Movements? Anti-Corporate Protests, Capitalist Crises and the Remoralization of Society

This paper examines the possibility of using Jürgen Habermas’s theory of new social movements as a way of making sense of the recent wave of anti-corporate protests. It is argued that anti-corporatism fits with Habermas’s model in many key respects. However, a number of problems in the Habermasian model are identified. Specifically, Habermas limits his focus to the First World and develops his account in relation to a now outdated model of the Welfare Society. These issues must be addressed, but if they are, it is argued, the Habermasian model remains useful.