Suchergebnisse

This concluding article of the special issues summarizes the empirical results presented in the previous contributions within a comparative perspective, with particular attention to locate them within previous research on youth mobilizations. From the theoretical point of view, the articles, based on the research conducted in the context of the CRY_OUT project, have tried to bridge some concepts in youth studies and social movement studies. Using the concept of generations in a critical way, we have in fact aimed at deconstructing it by looking at the meaning given to generations by movement activists, to their self-perception in terms of generational identification, as well as their taste in terms of contentious frames and practices. Empirically, we have addressed, in particular, the mobilization of Millennials in anti-austerity protests on issues such as labor and also women's and gender rights, antiracism, environmental protests, and alternative cultural and/or recreational initiatives. Focusing on Europe, we have chosen some paradigmatic cases of protests in the United Kingdom, Southern European Italy and Spain, and Eastern European Poland. In light of the theoretical questions presented in the introduction, this article addresses, in turn, the conceptions of generations in movements, the self-assessment by Millennials, as well as some characteristics of their mobilizations in terms of organizational structures, repertories of action, and collective framing.

This introductory article to the special issue presents a theoretical framework built on a bridging of youth studies and social movement studies. Building on some preliminary observations and empirical evidence, the article introduces the interrelated research questions that this issue addresses, based on the work of the CRY_OUT project: What leads a significant number of young people in times of more or less severe crisis to engage in collective initiatives, rather than to remain passive? What are the forms of social commitment that critical young people choose to use, in particular during periods of crisis? Which meanings are attached to these forms of social engagement? What kinds of resources are available to young people for social mobilization? And to what extent do they vary across different degrees of socioeconomic crisis, governmental constellation, and type of conflict, thereby shaping individual-level forms and levels of social participation? To what extent do differences in the impact of the crisis on national contexts, and related political transformations, result in differences in young people's social engagement in terms of motivations and forms? After presenting the theoretical model and research design, the article summarizes some results across three main aspects: the meaning of generations in social movements, the self-definition of Millennials, and their forms of commitment. It then presents the research design and the content of the contributions that follow.

Radicalization is a process of escalation from nonviolent to increasingly violent repertoires of action that develops through a complex set of interactions unfolding over time. Looking at radicalization mainly through the lenses of a relational approach, this article suggests that social movement studies allow us to bridge structural and agentic explanations in an analysis of the impact of political opportunities and organizational resources, as well as framing, in explaining forms of action and inaction. Available political opportunities influence the reactions of political actors in general to movement demands, thus affecting social movements' strategic choices. Moreover, the availability (or lack) of material and symbolic resources affects the choice of radical repertoire. Finally, organizational resources and contextual opportunities are framed differently by social movement actors, in some cases facilitating radicalization. At the individual level, different paths of radicalization are singled out.

In the last decades, a growing awareness has emerged in progressive social movements about the relevance of corruption as a hidden factor that negatively influences political and economic decision-making processes in both liberal-democratic and authoritarian regimes. Rampant corruption has been denounced by social movements, which have developed specific diagnostic and prognostic frames as well as knowledge and practices for the social accountability of political and economic powers. This contribution maps some of the characteristics of civil society as anti-corruption actors, reflecting on the theoretical challenges they present for social movement theory and for research on corruption and anti-corruption. In order to understand the emergence and outcomes of these mobilizations against corruption, it bridges two bodies of literature which have only very rarely crossed paths: corruption studies and social movement studies. Departing from the traditional visions of anti-corruption from below within corruption studies, the article brings upon social movement studies in order to synthetize some of the main context, organizational forms and framing of (anti-)corruption in today's contentious politics.

Oppositional violence and repression are closely related. In fact, repression often produces an escalation of violence rather than controlling it. Bridging social movement studies and research on violence, the article uses a small-N, most-different research design to analyse the working of a specific mechanism at the onset of different types of political violence: escalating policing. In particular, it indicates specific causal mechanisms, related to interactions between social movements and the state, which create the conditions for some splinter groups to move underground. In order to compare left-wing, right-wing, ethno-national and religious violence, the article presents empirical references to the author's own empirical research on Italy and the Basque Country as well as a secondary analysis of the conflicts that preceded the rise of al-Qaeda.

Outcomes of democratization paths have been addressed within literature on democratic consolidation as well as on revolution. These approaches have however never been linked with social movement theory that, I argue in this article, can provide new lenses to explain how movements' characteristics at the time of transition might have an impact on the quality of ensuing democracy. As the same time, looking at effects of social movements in terms of democratization can help broadening social movement studies, that have rarely addressed this type of effects. I am in particular interested in linking reflections (and empirical evidence) on effects of social movements to the typology on paths towards democratization that I have developed in other works. Looking especially at Central Eastern Europe post-1989, I single out the different characteristics of contentious politics in countries that underwent, respectively, eventful democratization, participated pacts and troubled democratization. Protest event analysis as constituted the empirical basis for the analysis