For decades, studies of protest and conflict have been dominated by research into workplaces and union activities. In 1980s and 1990s Britain, the decline of the old industrial sectors combined with increasing economic insecurity and government legislation to create a weakening of workers' organizations. The 1984-85 miners' strike was seen as the last of the unions' great struggles. However, new forms of public demonstration appeared addressing environmental issues; these became identified as legitimate forms of protest and ended up influencing government policies, in particular those relating to the growing exploitation of open-seam coal mining. The last two decades have thus witnessed the mobilization of a `new class' of people who form the backbone of the new social movements and who bring specific questions such as peace and the environment to the forefront of political life.
