Youth Movements and Elections in Eastern Europe

This book examines a dramatic rise of nonviolent youth movements on the eve of national elections in Eastern Europe.

Olena Nikolayenko (Author)

9781108416733, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 12 October 2017

270 pages, 8 tables
23.5 x 15.7 x 2 cm, 0.5 kg

'This work provides a refreshing approach to these electoral revolutions, foregrounding the agency of youth activists and incumbents … this is a well-rounded, thoughtful study of youth movements in the region, and its key take away is to highlight the creativity and skill needed to 'outwit' a government and engage ordinary citizens in mobilization.' Emma Mateo, Harvard Ukrainian Studies

At the turn of the twenty-first century, a tide of nonviolent youth movements swept across Eastern Europe. Young people demanded political change in repressive political regimes that emerged since the collapse of communism. The Serbian social movement Otpor (Resistance) played a vital role in bringing down Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. Inspired by Otpor's example, similar challenger organizations were formed in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, and Ukraine. The youth movements, however, differed in the extent to which they could mobilize citizens against the authoritarian governments on the eve of national elections. This book argues that the movement's tactics and state countermoves explain, in no small degree, divergent social movement outcomes. Using data from semi-structured interviews with former movement participants, public opinion polls, government publications, non-governmental organization (NGO) reports, and newspaper articles, the book traces state-movement interactions in five post-communist societies: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Serbia, and Ukraine.

1. Introduction
2. Elections as an opportunity for political change
3. Youth's revolt against the regime
4. Otpor's nonviolent resistance in Serbia
5. Zubr's struggle against authoritarianism in Belarus
6. Kmara! Enough of corruption and poverty in Georgia
7. Pora! Youth's mobilization in Ukraine
8. The emergence of youth movements in Azerbaijan
9. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Political activism [JPW], Comparative politics [JPB], Sociology [JHB]