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This article focuses on the precarious generation protesting in Spain and Italy in times of crisis and austerity (2010-2012). Their many similarities notwithstanding, the two countries have experienced different types of mobilization against austerity measures. In Spain, a relatively autonomous mobilization –characterized by new collective actors and new forms of action– has made possible the building of a political actor, Podemos, able to seriously challenge the established political parties. In Italy, instead, the mobilization was dominated by established political actors, especially trade unions, did not produce innovative forms of action and has not been able to overcome (so far) the fragmentation of the social movement sector. In both countries, however, the anti-austerity protests have been characterized by a strong presence of what we call hear the "precarious generation", particularly exposed to the economic crisis and the austerity measures. By relying on data from several surveys conducted in demonstrations on social, economic and labor issues in the two countries from 2010 to 2011, in this article we single out differences and the similarities in terms of presence, social composition, grievances and emotion, collective identity and network embeddedness of the precarious generation. Our findings show that the precarious generation was almost equally present in the selected demonstrations in the two countries, share similar socio-graphic features and similar types of grievance and emotions. Nonetheless, in Spain it seems to have built a more cohesive and radical collective identity based upon a more informal and internet based network integration while in Italy it seems embedded in a more traditional and formal network, which prevented the formation of a strong collective identity. Moreover, while in Spain the differences between the older and the precarious generation reveal that, both have a strong identity based on different networks; more formal the older and more related to informal and online instruments the latter; in Italy, the older generation has a much stronger collective identity based on a organizational network, while the precarious one is less but still integrated in organizational network. We conclude that the more autonomous civil society tradition in Spain, together with the particular political opportunities, under the pressure of a harsher economic crisis, may account for the differences we found. ; Este artículo se centra en la protesta de la generación precaria en España e Italia en tiempos de crisis y austeridad (2010-2012). A pesar de sus muchas similitudes, los dos países han experimentado diferentes tipos de movilización contra las medidas de austeridad. En España, una movilización relativamente autónoma –caracterizada por nuevos actores colectivos y nuevas formas de acción– ha hecho posible la construcción de un actor político, Podemos, capaz de desafiar seriamente a los partidos políticos establecidos. En Italia, en cambio, la movilización fue dominada por los actores políticos establecidos, especialmente los sindicatos, no produjo formas innovadoras de acción y no ha sido capaz de superar (hasta ahora) la fragmentación de los movimientos sociales. En ambos países, sin embargo, las protestas contra la austeridad se han caracterizado por una fuerte presencia de lo que se ha denominado "generación precaria", particularmente expuesta a la crisis económica y las medidas de austeridad. Basándonos en datos de varias encuestas realizadas en protestas sobre cuestiones sociales, económicas y laborales en los dos países de 2010 a 2011, en este artículo destacamos las diferencias y las similitudes de la generación precaria en términos de presencia, composición social, sentimientos de agravio y emoción, identidad colectiva e integración en las redes. Nuestros resultados muestran que la generación precaria tenía casi la misma presencia en las protestas seleccionadas en los dos países, compartían características sociodemográficas similares y el mismo tipo de agravios y emociones. Sin embargo, en España, parece haberse construido una identidad colectiva más coherente y radical, integrada a partir de unas redes informales y basadas en Internet; mientras que en Italia aparece arraigada a partir de redes más tradicionales y formales, lo que impide la formación de una identidad colectiva fuerte. Por otra parte, mientras que en España las diferencias entre la generación más mayor y la generación precaria revelan que ambas tienen una fuerte identidad en base a las diferentes redes que las sustentan (más formal en la mayor y más relacionada con instrumentos informales y online en la última); en Italia, la generación más mayor tiene una identidad colectiva mucho más fuerte sobre la base de una red organizativa, mientras que en la generación precaria ésta es menor, pero todavía integrada en una red organizativa. Llegamos a la conclusión de que una tradición más autónoma de la sociedad civil en España, junto con las oportunidades políticas particulares, bajo la presión de una crisis económica más severa, pueden dar cuenta de las diferencias encontradas.

This article focuses on the precarious generation protesting in Spain and Italy in times of crisis and austerity (2010-2012). Their many similarities notwithstanding, the two countries have experienced different types of mobilization against austerity measures. In Spain, a relatively autonomous mobilization –characterized by new collective actors and new forms of action– has made possible the building of a political actor, Podemos, able to seriously challenge the established political parties. In Italy, instead, the mobilization was dominated by established political actors, especially trade unions, did not produce innovative forms of action and has not been able to overcome (so far) the fragmentation of the social movement sector. In both countries, however, the anti-austerity protests have been characterized by a strong presence of what we call hear the "precarious generation", particularly exposed to the economic crisis and the austerity measures. By relying on data from several surveys conducted in demonstrations on social, economic and labor issues in the two countries from 2010 to 2011, in this article we single out differences and the similarities in terms of presence, social composition, grievances and emotion, collective identity and network embeddedness of the precarious generation. Our findings show that the precarious generation was almost equally present in the selected demonstrations in the two countries, share similar socio-graphic features and similar types of grievance and emotions. Nonetheless, in Spain it seems to have built a more cohesive and radical collective identity based upon a more informal and internet based network integration while in Italy it seems embedded in a more traditional and formal network, which prevented the formation of a strong collective identity. Moreover, while in Spain the differences between the older and the precarious generation reveal that, both have a strong identity based on different networks; more formal the older and more related to informal and online ...

Urban protest is often carried out by citizens' committees: that is, political groups that mobilize on issues affecting a small territorial area, use various forms of protest, and are organized in very loosely structured forms. Based on interviews with members of citizens' committees in Florence, this article discusses their identities, strategies and organizational models, as well as their interaction with local authorities. Active mainly in issues of pollution and security, the Florentine committees frame their demands in terms of defending or improving quality of life in a defined territory. Mobilizing citizens who have often had previous experience in voluntary and/or political associations, citizens' committees evidence a strongly participatory organizational model, with, however, notably discontinuous levels of activity. Whilst privileging moderate forms of protest, citizens' committees also seem to have more and more channels of access to the institutions of local government, which sometimes perceive them as a source of information and aggregate consensus. The quality of the interactions between citizens' committees and the public administration plays an important role in determining the extent to which this type of urban protest produces social capital.La contestation urbaine est souvent menée par des comités citoyens, c'est–à–dire des groupes politiques qui se mobilisent sur des problèmes affectant une zone territoriale limitée, emploient diverses formes de protestation et s'organisent selon des structures très informelles. A partir d'entretiens avec des membres de comités citoyens de Florence, cet article étudie leurs identités, stratégies et modèles d'organisation, ainsi que leur interaction avec les autorités locales. Surtout actifs sur des questions de pollution et de sécurité, les comités florentins formulent leurs revendications en termes de défense ou d'amélioration de la qualité de la vie dans un territoire donné. Mobilisant les citoyens qui, souvent, ont déjà eu une expérience dans des associations bénévoles et/ou politiques, ces comités démontrent un modèle organisationnel fortement participatif avec, toutefois, des degrés d'activité particulièrement intermittents. Bien que privilégiant des formes modérées de contestation, les comités citoyens semblent disposer de moyens toujours plus nombreux d'accéder aux institutions des gouvernements locaux, lesquelles les considèrent parfois comme une source d'informations et de consensus collectif. La qualité des interactions entre les comités citoyens et l'administration publique est importante si l'on veut déterminer dans quelle mesure ce type de contestation urbaine génère un capital social.

This article focuses on a protest campaign against the building of a high-speed railway in Tuscany, a region characterized by a "red" territorial subculture, that is, a dense network of associations & local institutions associated with the main left-wing party. The eight-year-long protest campaign involved formal environmental movement organizations as well as parties & local institutional actors that often staged protests. The main actors of the campaign were, however, the local environmental movement organizations that were formed in most of the areas directly menaced by the project. Looking at the historical evolution of protest campaign, the authors investigate cooperation & competition inside the movement between the ideologically "purer" environmental organizations & the more moderate forms of action on the one hand, & the local, single-issue, & sometimes NIMBY groups that were more prone to protest, on the other. Drawing on a political process approach, the dynamics of the protest are explained by reference to a multilevel policy-making process, involving local, national, & even international political institutions. Moreover, a distinction is introduced between political opportunities & policy opportunities, all framed within the local political culture. Protest event analysis allows relating the different repertoires with the changing set of resources & opportunities for the various actors in the different steps of the policy-making process. 7 Tables, 3 Figures, 19 References. Adapted from the source document.

Se la chiusura di alcuni stabilimenti industriali, come quello della GKN Driveline di Campi Bisenzio (Firenze), e licenziamenti di massa che ne sono conseguiti sono stati definiti come «la naturale conseguenza della transizione ecologica», una lettura che riproduce la dicotomia tra ambiente e lavoro, la mobilitazione dei lavoratori GKN è riuscita in pochi mesi a ribaltare questo paradigma e articolare un nuovo immaginario in grado di ripensare la transizione ecologica. Avvalendoci di strumenti tipici della ricerca etnografica, in questo articolo cerchiamo di dimostrare che dal piano di conversione industriale elaborato dai lavoratori della GKN insieme ad alcuni accademici solidali, emerge una concezione di transizione giusta che - recuperando una tradizione ecologista operaia spesso dimenticata - mostra la possibilità di una concreta transizione dal basso che metta al centro la voce e il sapere operaio e una creativa integrazione tra fabbrica, accademia e territorio.

Presenting the first systematic empirical research on the global justice movement, Globalization from Below analyzes a movement from the viewpoints of the activists, organizers, and demonstrators themselves. The authors traveled to Genoa with anti-G8 protesters and collected data from more than 800 participants. They examine the interactions between challengers and elites, and discuss how new models of activism fit into current social movement work

Drawing both on social movement studies and labour studies, this article investigates the kind of people who join trade union-staged marches during the current crisis, looking at the presence of (politicized) grievances, collective identity and the embeddedness of mobilization. Data were taken from surveys conducted during 13 marches organized by the main trade unions in five European countries. They show that participants in union-staged demonstrations in countries in which a corporatist model dominates and trade unions have a tradition of business unionism (Belgium and the Netherlands) are characterized by higher political trust, more moderate positions on the left–right continuum and stronger organizational ties. On the other hand, in countries in which unions are less institutionally recognized and with a tradition of oppositional unionism (Italy and Spain), participants in union-staged demonstrations are more mistrustful of politics, located more to the left and rely more upon informal social networks to mobilize. The United Kingdom falls between these two poles.

Citizens' committees have become an increasingly frequent, relevant phenomenon in Italian local politics and policy over the last decade or so. This article examines protest campaigns concerning traffic policies in four medium-size cities in which such committees have played a pivotal role. Though the ability of such actors to successfully impose their preferences on the policy agenda appears to be at the very least uncertain, an analysis of these campaigns reveals some of the factors that can increase their chances of exerting influence on policy decisions. Such factors include the resources these campaigns can mobilize–-namely various forms of human, social and political capital--, how politically opportune they are, and their ability to structure public discourse within a global framework that fosters the building of coalitions supporting their claims.

Citizens' committees have become an increasingly frequent, relevant phenomenon in Italian local politics and policy over the last decade or so. This article examines protest campaigns concerning traffic policies in four medium-size cities in which such committees have played a pivotal role. Though the ability of such actors to successfully impose their preferences on the policy agenda appears to be at the very least uncertain, an analysis of these campaigns reveals some of the factors that can increase their chances of exerting influence on policy decisions. Such factors include the resources these campaigns can mobilize -- namely various forms of human, social and political capital, how politically opportune they are, and their ability to structure public discourse within a global framework that fosters the building of coalitions supporting their claims. Adapted from the source document.

Die AutorInnen betreiben Soziologie und Politologie an der Universität Florenz. Hier legen sie die Auswertung einer Befragung von ca. 800 (darunter ca. 300 organisierten) italienischen DemonstrantInnen gegen den G-8-Gipfel in Genua im Juli 2001 vor. Gezeigt werden das netzwerkartige Zusammenwirken von, aber auch die Unterschiede und Kontroversen zwischen katholischen und laizistischen Vereinigungen ("Liliput"), von ATTAC und Organisationen der eher traditionellen Linken, von der Centri Sociali des zivilen Ungehorsams und von den Fundamentaloppositionellen (Anarchisten, Schwarzer Block). "Besonderes Augenmerk wird auf den Gebrauch des Internet gelegt", auch durch explizite und abrufbare Verweise auf über 100 Websites, überwiegend mit Verlautbarungen dieser Organisationen. Ein kurzes Schlusskapitel beleuchtet anhand einer weiteren Befragung beim europäischen Sozialforum in Florenz im November 2002 auch transnationale Unterschiede der Globalisierungskritik. Ohne Register. (3)