European Anti-Austerity Protests – Beyond “old” and “new” social movements?

Abstract

This article explores the social composition of participants in anti-austerity protests taking place in Belgium, Italy, Spain and the UK between 2010 and 2012, based on over 3000 questionnaires distributed to protest participants according to a standardized method. Employing a distinction between three types of mobilizations, we compare protests anchored in the traditional 'old' labour movements, protests by smaller radical leftist unions and parties, and the ostensibly newer kinds of mobilizations in the form of Indignados and Occupy protests. Although easily forgotten, we argue that the two former types of anti-austerity protests deserve equal attention from researchers. We conclude that there are significant differences between the protest categories in terms of socio-demographic characteristics of their participants, but the participants nevertheless appear to maintain surprisingly similar political values across demonstration types. Class identification also differed. The participants in the Indignados/Occupy protests had a markedly lower degree of identification with the working class -regardless of the 'objective' labour market position and controlling for country differences. These aspects relate to the classic distinction between 'old' and 'new' social movements, but we argue that it risks obscuring a more complex pattern of similarities and differences between different anti-austerity mobilizations.

The Three Waves of Anti-Austerity Protest in Greece, 2010–2015

“…One notable advantage of our approach is that we are able to compare protesters with non-protesters, while similar studies elsewhere rely on surveys of demonstrators alone (e.g. Anduiza et al, 2014;Grasso and Giugni, 2015;Peterson et al, 2015). For future work, exploring in greater depth the causes of the changes in the movement which we document should be of particular interest.…”

Movement social learning on Twitter: The case of the People’s Assembly

“…In Spain, 15M and the trade-unions shared a concern with government austerity policies. This agenda, nevertheless, did not result in their coalescence but rather a parallel cohabitation likewise witnessed elsewhere in Europe (Peterson et al, 2015). The People's Assembly sought to connect the two strands of anti-austerity protest.…”

Do gender regimes matter? Gender differences in involvement in anti-austerity protests - a comparison of Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom

“…However, in the following years austerity measures began to affect women more adversely than men, because women are disproportionately employed in the public sector and are more likely to be public sector service clients (Rubery & Rafferty, 2013). Governments' responses, such as the adoption of austerity measures and the (continued) erosion of welfare states, resulted in a political crisis and caused a cycle of contention (Della Porta, 2015;Peterson, Wahlström, & Wennerhag, 2015). Anti-austerity activism includes multiple forms and claims and represents some continuity with global justice movements (Della Porta, 2017a).…”