Routledge Handbook of Contemporary European Social Movements : Protest in Turbulent Times

European social movements have become increasingly visible in recent years, generating intense public debates. From anti-austerity and pro-democracy movements to right-wing nationalist movements, these movements expose core conflicts around European democracy, identity, politics and society. The __Routledge Handbook of Contemporary European Social Movements__ offers a comprehensive interdisciplinary overview of the analysis of European social movements, helping to orient scholars and students navigating a rapidly evolving field while developing a new agenda for research in the area. The book is divided into eight sections: Visions of Europe; Contemporary models of democracy; Historical evolution of major European movements; Feminism and sexualities; Movement diffusion within and beyond Europe; Anti-austerity movements; Technopolitical and media movements; and Movements, parties and movement-parties. Key theories and empirical trajectories of core movements, their central issues, debates and impacts are covered, with a focus on how these have influenced and been influenced by their European context. Democracy, and how social movements understand it, renew it, or undermine it, forms a core thread that runs through the book. Written in a clear and direct style, the __Handbook__ provides a key resource for students and scholars hoping to understand the key debates and innovations unfolding in the heart of European social movements and how these affect broader debates on such areas as democracy, human rights, the right to the city, feminism, neoliberalism, nationalism, migration and European values, identity and politics. Extensive references and sources will direct readers to areas of further study. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of figures List of tables Notes on contributors Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction: Contemporary European social movements: democracy, crisis and contestation References PART 1: Visions of Europe 1. Visions of a good society: European social movements in the age of ideologies and beyond The golden age of ideologies – 1880–1945 Les trente glorieuses and the ‘end of ideology’ – 1945–1975 After the party’s over – neoliberalism and the revenge of the market – 1975–2011 Into the vacuum – populism and post-ideology – 2011–present Conclusion References 2. How many ‘Europes’? Left-wing and right-wing social movements and their visions of Europe Introduction ‘Another Europe is possible’? Left-wing social movements and their visions of Europe For a ‘Europe of nations’ and against ‘Islamization’: far-right social movements and their visions of Europe Conclusion Notes References 3. From ‘Fortress Europe’ to ‘Refugees Welcome’: social movements and the political imaginary on European borders Introduction Border politics: Europe’s securitarian and humanitarian agenda on migration From ‘Fortress Europe’ to ‘Refugees Welcome’: how social movements construct and enact alternative visions of Europe Conclusion Notes References 4. Fields of contentious politics: policies and discourse over ‘Islam vs. Christianity’ Introduction Religion as a historical field Religion as an institutional field Religion as a discursive field Conclusions Notes References PART 2: Contemporary models of democracy 5. Democratic models in Europe Introduction Models of democracy: participation and deliberation Two main dimensions of democracy Participatory and deliberative democracy: from the Global Justice Movement to anti-austerity protests Conclusions Note References 6. Deliberative democracy: an upgrade proposal Habermas: a two-track model of deliberative politics Deliberative systems: the contribution of meso-deliberative approaches The role of institutional design in deliberative democracy: towards a full concept of civil society Acknowledgments Note References 7. Democracy and sortition: arguments in favor of randomness Introduction Sortition and political knowledge Sortition and political motivation Ethos and sortition Acknowledgments Notes References 8. Hatred and democracy? Ernesto Laclau and populism in Europe Introduction Populism in Europe in theory and practice Laclau and the logics of populism The anti-populist hegemony Social movements and populism in Europe today? Notes References PART 3: Historical evolution of major European movements 9. Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed: from labor movements to anti-austerity protests Introduction Labor movements and new social movements: two worlds apart Global Justice Movements: bringing the two worlds together and shifting the scale Anti-austerity movements: bringing capitalism and social class back into European social movements European social movements between continuity and change References 10. The Global Justice Movement in Europe Introduction Characteristics and paths of the GJM in Europe Impacts of the GJM in Europe Conclusion References 11. European squatters’ movements and the right to the city Introduction Squatting movements across European cities Squatting and the right to the city: an intimate but open relationship Squatting rights in contention with the existing capitalist city Conclusions: autonomy, inter-dependence, and diversity in European urban politics References 12. New social movements and everyday life: a dialogue with Alberto Melucci Introduction Your analysis of new forms of collective action claims they are born of a new type of ‘complex’ post-industrial society. What kind of ‘complex’ system are we living in? Your views on complex societies are often at odds with a Marxist approach, which attempts to establish causal links between the macro-structures of capitalist society and its conflicts. Why? Is this why your emphasis on the theme of complexity leads you to cast doubt on the adequacy of the 19th-century concept of social movement? In contrast to traditional accounts of collective action, resource mobilization theory emphasizes that grievances and deprivations aren’t the prime driver of public protests and movements. How important is this insight? Is this why your approach rejects the dualistic subject-object thinking of previous approaches to social movements, including not only Marxian and resource mobilization approaches but also the theory of the colonization of the life world proposed by Jürgen Habermas? Might this first step help us answer questions about the simple but fundamental question of why individuals become involved in social movements? Aren’t these empirical research methods at odds with Alain Touraine’s sociological intervention methodology? Touraine claims that the ecological movement is becoming the central movement of our age, the successor of the role played by the workers’ movement in industrial capitalist society You introduced the term ‘new social movements’. What exactly is their novelty? Isn’t your idea that the form of contemporary movements is itself a message, an alternative experience of reality, quite close to McLuhan’s thesis of ‘the medium is the message’? You emphasize the positive ‘invisibility’ of social movements, their operation through subterranean networks of mainly part-time membership. Some observers would say this is their great weakness, a symptom of their marginality, or decline and loss of momentum When challenging the dominant cultural codes, aren’t contemporary movements in danger of becoming narcissistic and apolitical, more concerned with self-fulfilment than wider political change? How do you react to the criticism of Ralph Miliband and others that contemporary movements cannot achieve their goal of selfdetermination because they leave untouched the fundamental questions—to do with property and its private appropriation— addressed by the workers’ movements? What about the continuities between contemporary movements and early modern forms of collective action by workers? Their movements featured experiments with new forms of disruptive organization, such as co-operatives, mutual aid societies and trade unions, that drew upon invisible action networks So given the costs, risks, internal tensions and resource inequalities, and the multilayered, fragmented and highly precarious nature of collective action, why do people join in? You say that the construction of internal solidarity is an important feature of ‘new social movements’. Doesn’t this contradict your emphasis, against those who speak of movements as characters, on their invertebrate qualities of heterogeneity, fragility and complexity? One of the most important characteristics of the new social movements, you claim, is their refusal of a certain type of revolutionary politics—the Leninist model of capturing and transforming state power—as well as more conventional Left political strategies. Are you saying that the conventional distinction between Left and Right is now obsolete in thinking about the cultural and political potential of these movements? Why is it that the new movements keep their distance from official politics? How can we best understand their anti-political suspicion of political parties, governments and state institutions? You have elsewhere explained how violence can grow out of social movements. But why is violence so rare these days? Why do contemporary movements mainly rely on civil disobedience and other non-violent forms of action? Your writings underscore the non-negotiable demands of movements. You say that their claims therefore require political mediation and the building of new public spheres in civil society. What do you have in mind? Wouldn’t the development of these public spaces suppose a radical break with conventional views about the primacy of political parties in codifying and empowering social movements? Sympathetic observers and supporters of the new social movements often express alarm about their fragility and vulnerability to political and social repression. You say these movements are in fact a stable and irreversible component of complex societies. What is the basis of your conviction? Isn’t it overly optimistic? References PART 4: Feminism and sexualities 13. Feminist mobilizations within organized religions in Western Europe Introduction Feminist organizing from the 1970s onwards: a basically secular phenomenon Feminist mobilization within organized religions Location Goals Repertoire of activities Allies Outcomes Concluding remarks Acknowledgments Notes References 14. My body, my rules? Self-determination and feminist collective action in Southern Europe Introduction Gender-based inequality across time Italy and Portugal today Feminist collective action in the 21st century: dominant themes and repertoires ‘Feminist wars’: conflicts within feminist contemporary movements Putting self-determination back into the equation: concluding notes on challenges faced by feminist movements today Acknowledgements Notes References 15. Neither new nor utopian (and yet worthwhile): queer and feminist genealogies, conflicts and contributions inside Spain’s 15-M movement Introduction The broader picture: queer politics in southern Europe Before the squares: feminist and queer genealogies of the15-M movement Tensions and conflicts at the camp... and afterwards Queering 15-M Conclusion Notes References PART 5: Movement diffusion within and beyond Europe 16. Brokerage and the diffusion of social movements in the digital era Understanding brokerage and the diffusion of social movements Local protests within atransnational wave of contention The diffusion of agency through the Mediterranean Brokerage and the diffusion of social movements acrossthe Atlantic Conclusions Notes References 17. Social movement diffusion in Eastern Europe Introduction The changing context of diffusion International assistance in building a civil society Civil society diffusion trouble (Anti-)globalization Europeanization The impact of diffusion The diffusion of electoral revolutions The rise and spread of traditional values Acknowledgement References 18. Crossing the ocean: the influence of Bolivia’s MAS movement on Spain’s Podemos Party Introduction From social movements to political parties: how does translation happen? On the way to power: the MAS in Bolivia On the way to forming a new party: Podemos Discussion and analysis Conclusions Interviews: Notes References PART 6: Anti-austerity movements 19. Anti-austerity movements in Europe Introduction Grievances Emotions Institutional left and autonomous actors Novel features of anti-austerity protests Anti-oligarchic view of citizenship and new cross-class alliances Continuities and breaks Explaining differences between European anti-austerity mobilizations Public demand for mobilization Practices, spaces and experience Media, diffusion and timing Conclusions: mobilizing without flags? Affiliation distrust in demand-driven mobilizations References 20. Alternative forms of resilience and the 2007 crisis in Europe Introduction Towards an integrative study of alternative forms of resilience as strategies of survival and resistance Research design Findings: mapping the multitude of AFR Adaptive or autonomous? Towards understanding the impact of crisis on collective citizen action Conclusion Acknowledgements Note References 21. ‘We won’t pay for the crisis’: student movements in European anti-austerity protest Introduction Before the crisis: student struggles and the neoliberal transformation of university The materialisation of anti-neoliberalism: student protest intimes of crisis From affluence to crisis: materialisation of claims and broader audiences Conclusions Notes References PART 7: Technopolitical and media movements 22. The technopolitical frameworks of contemporary social movements: the European case Introduction: technopolitics and media movements Social movements and their use of technology:conceptual problems Frames and MMSS Technological frameworks: history and evolution Metaphors and frames: empirical examples Methodologies, empirical applications and social movements: debates and applications Conclusions Note References 23. Alternative media and social movements in Europe’s digital landscape Introduction: the ties between social movements and alternative media The alternative media: four elements for a comprehensive definition The redefinition of alternative media in the digital environment The protest media in the digital era: a European overview Beyond alternative media in the digital environment: towards alternative platforms Conclusion Note References PART 8: Movements, parties and movement parties 24. Movement parties: a new hybrid form of politics? Introduction A tale of two literatures: social movements and political parties The contemporary historical context and key issues Contemporary movement parties Conclusion References 25. The Five Star Movement’s progressive detachment from social movements Introduction Proximity with social movements A peculiar parliamentary style Scrutinizing concrete opportunities of online participation Conclusion: from proximity to marginalization of social movements and participatory platforms Notes 26. The long shadow of activism: Podemos and the difficult choices of movement-parties Introduction What is Podemos? Not the party of the losers of globalization Strategic movement-parties Conclusion References 27. From Indignad@s to Mayors? Participatory dilemmas in Spanish municipal movements Introduction A changing political context The social support of ‘new municipalism’ From indignation to local elections Participatory dilemmas once in government Conclusions Note References Index "European social movements have become increasingly visible in recent years, generating intense public debates. From anti-austerity and pro-democracy movements to right wing nationalist movements, these movements expose core conflicts around European democracy, identity, politics and society. The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary European Social Movements offers a comprehensive interdisciplinary overview of the analysis of European social movements helping to orient scholars and students navigating a rapidly evolving field while developing a new agenda for research in the area"-- Provided by publisher