Radical Social Movements in Western Europe: A Configurational Analysis

There has been little comparative research on the differences across radical social movements in the context of consolidated democracies. This paper analyses the squatting movement, as an exemplary case of contemporary radical movement. This study aims to identify the causal contexts that explain the differences of strengths within these movements across 52 large cities in Western Europe. It examines three main hypotheses drawn from the literature on social movements concerning the characteristics of political systems, the availability of resources and the presence of economic grievances. We use fuzzy sets qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to identify configurations of causal conditions. The findings show that diverse contexts (multi-causation) lead to strong movements. A first causal context combines grievances, resources and closed or unresponsive institutions, and is typically found in Southern European cities. A second context highlights the presence of robust far-right parties in combination with less severe grievances and relative scarcity of resources, and is typically found in Northern European cities. These findings demonstrate that resources and grievances are quasi-necessary conditions for strong radical movements, although polarization can lead to a similar outcome where these characteristics are not present

Power, legitimacy, and institutions in the october 2019 uprising in Chile

The 2019 uprising in Chile was the outcome of an erosion of political arrangements and the politicization of popular unrest that developed over three decades. Two explanations for it—the political mobilization of the groups that emerged from the neoliberal reforms (the “new people” approach) and the mismatch between institutions and society (the “decoupling” approach)—can be reconciled by emphasizing the connections between elite and popular politics. Analyzing the long-standing relationship between power, legitimacy, and political institutions provides a framework for understanding this and other events of massive unrest. El levantamiento de 2019 en Chile resultó de una erosión de los acuerdos políticos y la politización del malestar popular desarrollado a lo largo de tres décadas. Podemos reconciliar dos de las explicaciones al respecto—la movilización política de los grupos surgidos de las reformas neoliberales (el enfoque de la “gente nueva”) y el desajuste entre las instituciones y la sociedad (el enfoque de “desacoplamiento”)—si enfatizamos las conexiones entre la élite y la política popular. El análisis de la relación de larga data entre el poder, la legitimidad y las instituciones políticas nos proporciona un marco posible para entender este y otros eventos de disturbios masivos.</p

La política estudiantil: apuntes para una agenda de investigación

Este ensayo tiene por objetivo principal ofrecer algunas reflexiones críticas para el estudio de lo que los estudiosos en la materia usualmente llamamos movimientos estudiantiles. El ensayo se compone de dos secciones. En la primera, reflexiono sobre las implicaciones que se derivan de usar el concepto “movimientos estudiantiles” para definir el campo de estudios, e invito a considerar el concepto alternativo de “política estudiantil”. En esa línea, sugiero considerar las dimensiones de representación, movilización y reproducción del actor estudiantil. En la segunda sección, me refiero a dos grandes áreas de investigación que pudieran ser abordadas para avanzar el conocimiento sobre el tema: las conexiones entre estado, capitalismo y universidad; y el acoplamiento (o desacoplamiento) del actor estudiantil, en tres planos: su conformación interna, con otros actores sociales y con el sistema de partidos. Las principales contribuciones de este ensayo consisten en la propuesta de una agenda de estudio sobre el tema, la que puede orientar futuras investigaciones, y en un balance crítico (aunque no exhaustivo) de la literatura, con un foco particular en Chile y algunas referencias a América Latina.</p

Protest and the diffusion of contention in Western Europe

Citizens engage in politics in different ways and voting is only one of the means that they use to express their political preferences. From the Gilet Jaunes in France to the global feminist strike, people have taken to the streets to protest against rising inequalities, welfare cuts, unequal access to education and the decline in real wages and pensions. Protests are not limited to the young and deprived but also engage well- educated groups and middle classes. They represent a reaction not only to economic grievances but also to situations in which political institutions are perceived to be closed to the demands of (particular groups of) citizens

Protest and the politics of unemployment protection in Western Europe

The implementation of austerity has spurred in many countries large mobilizations, which have ranged from protests and the occupation of public squares to more violent forms of dissent such as riots. These events have drawn large masses of people with limited access to traditional channels of political influence and/or feeling that their interests are not well-represented by political elites. The aim of these protests is to oppose, disrupt or obstruct the dismantling of social protections. Proponents of the so- called ‘social movement society’ argue that protest has gained legitimacy as a regular feature of democratic politics. Thus, in the face of declining voter turnout, party membership and public trust in political elites, the legitimacy of social policy reforms rests also crucially on the ability of governments to respond to these disruptive forms of political participation