Why do some nonviolent movements succeed in challenging oppression and injustice where others get suppressed? Defining unarmed insurrections as "organized popular challenges to government authority that depend primarily on nonviolent action rather than on armed methods," Schock (sociology, Rutgers U.) comparatively explores this question through the six cases of South Africa, the Philippines, Burma, China, Nepal, and Thailand. He concludes with an assessment of the importance of a range of factors in the relative outcomes of nonviolent movements, many of which he feels have been neglected by the social movement literature, including international opportunities, the "radical flank effect," and the way social movements actively shape the political environment rather than just respond to it. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)