The nationwide peaceful protests against the rigged presidential election in Belarus in August 2020 and against the immediate arrest and conviction of Alexandr Naval'nyj after his deliberate return to Russia are two examples of the diverse and regular protest actions with which opposition forces in autocratic regimes try to make their voices heard. In addition to the - often dangerous and rarely successful - protests in the streets, many non-democratic systems also have opposition representatives in parliaments and other political bodies, although they "actually" have nothing to say or no chance of gaining political power within the existing regime. What drives the opposition members under these circumstances? What strategies do they pursue to oppose the ruling autocrats? Under which conditions can they succeed - from the enforcement of concrete demands, such as the prevention of a certain construction project or the release of a certain political prisoner, to the reform or even the overthrow of the autocratic regime? In the first part of the project seminar (winter semester 2021/22), basic opposition theories and strategies will be elaborated: What distinguishes the (partly co-opted) system opposition from the anti-system opposition, what goals do they each pursue and how can their political influence be examined? What does "negative opposition" mean? What role does social media play? These conceptual considerations will then be reflected on in depth using empirical case studies, especially from Eastern European countries, and checked for their "practicality". Depending on the level of knowledge and interest of the participants, examples from other regions and continents can also be included. By the end of the semester, all seminar participants will develop a joint research design on complementary opposition strategies and tactics ("parliament or street"), which can be applied in the course of the second part of the seminar (summer semester 2022) on the basis of various, preferably also comparative, case studies. close