Contention in Times of Crisis
Recession and Political Protest in Thirty European Countries

Documents the waves of protest that spread across Europe in the wake of the Great Recession.

Hanspeter Kriesi (Edited by), Jasmine Lorenzini (Edited by), Bruno Wüest (Edited by), Silja Hausermann (Edited by)

9781108835114, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 August 2020

300 pages, 50 b/w illus. 34 tables
15 x 23.5 x 2.5 cm, 0.62 kg

This is the first comprehensive overview of the waves of protest mobilization that spread across Europe in the wake of the Great Recession. Documenting the extent of these protests in a study covering thirty countries, including the issues they addressed and the degree to which they replicated each other, this book maps the prevalence and nature of protest across Europe, and explains the interactions between economic and political grievances that lead to protest mobilization. The authors assess a range of claims in the literature on political protest, arguing that they tend both to overstate the importance of anti-austerity sentiments and underestimate the relevance of political grievances in driving the protest. They also integrate a study of the electoral and protest arenas, revealing that electoral mass politics has been heavily influenced protest mobilization, which amplified electoral punishment at the polls.

Part I. A Study of Protest in 30 European Countries: 1. Introduction Hanspeter Kriesi, Silja Häusermann and Jasmine Lorenzini
2. Design and methods of the semi-automated protest event analysis Jasmine Lorenzini, Peter Makarov and Bruno Wüest
3. External validation of the protest event analysis Bruno Wüest and Jasmine Lorenzini
Part II. Trends in Protest in the Great Recession: 4. Overall trends of protest in the Great Recession Hanspeter Kriesi
5. All quiet on the protest scene? Repertoires of contention and protest actors during the Great Recession Sophia Hunger and Jasmine Lorenzini
6. The return of the economy? Issue contention in the protest arena Theresa Gessler and Julia Schulte-Cloos
Part III. Sources of Protest: 7. Economic grievances, political grievances and protest Hanspeter Kriesi, Chendi Wang, Silja Häusermann and Thomas Kurer
8. Bailouts and protest: representative democracy and policy-making in times of austerity Argyrios Altiparmakis and Jasmine Lorenzini
9. Diffusion of protest Bruno Wüest and Matthias Enggist
Part IV. Interaction between Convention and Contention: 10. Electoral punishment and protest politics in times of crisis Björn Bremer, Swen Hutter and Hanspeter Kriesi
11. Are political parties recapturing the streets? A cross-regional study of party protests in the Great Recession Endre Borbath and Swen Hutter
12. Conclusion Hanspeter Kriesi and Bruno Wueest.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP], Politics & government [JP]