Society in Action is the first theoretical statement which seeks to draw general lessons for social theory from the dramatic events which transformed European history in the later 1980s. Sztompka presents a comprehensive and original theory of social change focusing on the self-transforming potential of societies evoked by the universal desires for freedom, autonomy and self-fulfilment. Building upon these theoretical traditions of writers such as Marx and Gramsci, the author attempts to go beyond them, synthesising their basic ideas in a more powerful general scheme.