Mapping the Europeanization of Contention: Evidence from a Quantitative Data Analysis

Abstract

Examines the growing tendency for transnational actors to join in protests against centralized targets. Issues addressed include the likelihood of transnational European mobilization becoming a common phenomenon; how these mobilizations are linked to patterns of European integration; & the potential for a new form of citizen politics. Quantitative analyses of the effects of European integration on contentious politics across member-states of the European Union (EU) are described using a data set on European contentious politics drawn from 1984-1997 Reuters newswire reports. Protests included both domesticated & transnational European protests, with the latter subdivided into cooperative transnationalism, competitive transnationalism, & collective European protest. It was found that formation of the EU has spawned new opportunities as well as constraints for domestic social actors, eg, farmers, fishermen, construction workers, & miners. Further, the largest proportion of contentious political responses to the policies of the EU took domestic rather than transnational forms. 6 Tables, 2 Figures. J. Lindroth