This article has three primary goals centring on a re-examination of the research frameworks we use for understanding the politics of social movements. First, I detail the ideological and methodological deficiencies of the old social movement/new social movement framework. Second, I highlight the positive contributions of research that favoured or in some way promoted one side in the debate over old and new social movements. Third, I elaborate what I consider to be the major challenges which new forms of social movement organising pose for adult education research interested in advancing social justice.