Articulating Dissent is about the organisational frameworks that structure alternative and mainstream public spheres, and the methods protest movements employ to overcome their political differences when communicating with each other. It is an engaging book that is clearly the result of several years of considered thought and in-depth empirical research. Ruiz uses work by theorists such as Habermas, Deleuze and Guattari and Mouffe to build a new model of the public sphere that is better able to account for the polyvocal dissent that characterises modern coalition social movements.

Chapters One and Two provide the theoretical framework for the rest of the book. The author begins with a discussion of Habermas’ concept of the public sphere, which she then combines with Deleuze and Guattari’s ideas about the rhizome. Here readers may struggle to follow Ruiz’s arguments if they do not already have at least a basic knowledge of the theories involved. Arborescent structures are rigid, fixed and hierarchical, whilst rhizomatic structures are flexible, fluid and horizontal, Ruiz remind us. She argues that coalition protest movements are characterised by “fractured harmony” (page 10); they celebrate diversity rather than prioritising unity. The traditional model of the public sphere does not account for multiple voices, so Ruiz develops a model that is less restricted, and more open to change and new developments. A key element of this new model is the way in which boundaries are imagined. Ruiz argues that it is important not to get caught up in fixed dualisms; boundaries should be thought of as “transformative thresholds” (page 47), rather than as immovable barriers. Boundaries between different things are mobile and porous, they can shift and change, and allow things to pass between them.

Once Ruiz establishes the theoretical framework for her research, she goes on to illustrate and support it with case studies. The following chapters have a more empirical focus, although Ruiz does not neglect theory by any means.

In Chapter Three Ruiz compares the rhizomatic Indymedia to the more structured and hierarchical arborescent Socialist Worker newspaper. She uses various examples from protest media to argue that the rhizomatic characteristics of coalition movements are due to their ideology rather than technological developments. This is an important argument which challenges  easy ‘deterministic’ views which take into account only new technologies such as the internet and social media.

Chapter Four focuses on protests and demonstrations. Here too, there are arborescent examples, institutionalised protests that follow standardised routes pre-arranged with the police, and rhizomatic examples. Rhizomatic demonstrations take a different form, and tend to be portrayed negatively by panicked mainstream media. Ruiz uses international summits as an example of rhizomatic protests, where different groups with different approaches to confronting authority, such as the Black Bloc and the Pink and Silver Bloc, all take part. Reference to a specific anti-globalisation international summit protest would have strengthened the analysis, but even so Ruiz makes a compelling argument.

The final two chapters focus on the interaction between coalition protest movements and the mainstream media. Chapter Five begins with a timely summary of the previous chapters. It provides a useful refresher for the arguments that have been made so far. It then uses examples from the anti-war movement in the city of Brighton and Hove to analyse the uneven frontier between the rhizomatic anti-war movement and the arborescent mainstream. Ruiz argues that the mismatch between rhizomatic and arborescent communication systems can disrupt the flow of information between the peripheries and the mainstream. Protest groups have to overcome these difficulties in order to communicate with the public.

Chapter Six focuses on Sukey, an app developed during the student protests in London. The app collates tweets and other sources in order to build a picture of what is happening and where during a protest. The information is then sent out to users, so they can avoid trouble spots. Sukey is an example of new technology that facilitates rhizomatic protest. However, Sukey also embodies mainstream attitudes, condemning violence and differentiating between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ protesters. This example illustrates very clearly Ruiz’s arguments about boundaries, demonstrating that we need to think of them as flexible and porous in order to theorise the complex and polyvocal modern coalition protest movement.

As with the initial chapters, in these chapters the discussion of the literature is thorough, to the point that it can sometimes be difficult to follow Ruiz’s own arguments. However, her arguments are well supported with evidence, and her analysis is comprehensive and admirable. Ruiz’s approach  is refreshing; she is frank, open, and the methodology is informed by the theories she uses. A small criticism is that the empirical examples are UK-centric and the range or rationale behind these examples is never  discussed explicitly.

Articulating Dissent is a well-rounded contribution to the field of social movement research. It is a well-written, thorough and convincing book. Ruiz is a Fellow in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics, but it is easy to see how the book could also be useful in the fields of sociology and human geography. Ruiz talks about space as if she was a geographer, although she does not reference much of the extant geographical literature on social movements.

Overall, Ruiz uses both theory and empirical examples to build a strong argument about the ways that coalition protest movements communicate, and how scholars should think about this communication. The book proposes a new model of the public sphere that is better able to cope with the complexity of many modern protest movements and their unusual and multiple voices, while acknowledging that boundaries are porous rather than solid. It is a very interesting read, and a valuable addition to the bookshelves of anyone interested in social movements and alternative politics.