30203

WiSe 16/17: Protest and Resilience – Social Movements and the European Crisis

Jochen Roose

Comments

The economic and financial crisis has shaken the European Union and in particular some Southern European member states. In the course of the crisis, we have witnessed a wave of protest. Also, initiatives of solidarity action reacted to the dramatic decline of the welfare state and the increase in poverty. Before the background of these developments, the seminar looks at social movement theory and concepts of civil society and applies these theories to the case of the European crisis and the related developments in the field. During the first half of the seminar, we discuss main theoretical concepts in the field of social movement studies. These include resource mobilization, political opportunity structure, framing, identity, and debates in the field around civil society. Then we take a short empirical look at the crisis developments (though we will not be able to understand the ‘true’ roots of the crisis). The third part of the seminar applies the theoretical concepts to the situation in the Southern European countries. close