Politics of protest
The project "Politics of protest. Understanding political protest in Central Europe" examines recent popular protest movements in Central European countries. Six expert seminars organized in cooperation with Collegium Civitas serve to examine recent protests in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Romania. Invited country experts will discuss the political background, sociological causes and motivations of protests as well as organizational forms of current mobilizations. The case studies will help us to develop a common analytical framework for understanding political protest in the region. Project description.
Politics of protest in Romania: The case of "Save Bucharest"
Increased urban and environmental activism in CEE could indicate the emergence of a new wave of grassroots movements. The seminar on 24.09 will analyse the case of "Save Bucharest" as a laboratory where new styles, social meanings and cultural critiques are informally exercised and eventually institutionalized.
PEGIDA in Dresden and elsewhere – more than right-wing populism?
With the acronym PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident), a group of men began "walking" every Monday evening through the streets of Dresden, reaching at the top 25.000 participants in January. Beyond the undeniable anti-immigrant attitudes of many PEGIDA-adherents, there seems to be a general challenge to the concept of representative liberal democracy. The specificity of the movement was discussed by German political scientist Dr. Dietrich Herrmann on the expert seminar and in his subsequent analysis.
Political Mobilizations in Hungary 2010-2014
The post-transition Hungarian protest sector grew to an unseen size during the years of the second Orbán government. Democracy frames gained momentum with large-scale left-liberal protests organized in defense of liberal democracy. Protest event analysis and secondary sources were used during the third expert seminar with Mihály Gyimesi to explain interactions between popular support and dissent.
Grassroots protests and new collective identities in Bosnia-Herzegovina
Between 2013 and 2014 Bosnia-Herzegovina witnessed the first mass protests since the end of the 1992-1995 war. Chiara Milan provides an overview of the latest Bosnian unrest, analysing the roots of its emergence, the social composition and forms of organization, as well as achievements and shortcomings of civic resistance.
Democracy Disrupted. The Politics of Global Protest. Event with Ivan Krastev
In his newest book Ivan Krastev discusses the relationship between protest and democracy. Does the last wave of protests signal a radical change in the way politics will be practiced? Will it be the empowering energy of the protests or the conservative backlash against them that will shape the future of democratic politics? These questiones were adressed during Ivan Krastev's lecture organized by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and Collegium Civitas on 19th March 2015.
Is protest a better instrument than elections for keeping elites accountable? Does the last wave of protests signal a radical change in the way politics will be practiced? Or are the protests all around the world simply a spectacular but ultimately insignificant eruption of public anger? Is it the technology, the economics, the mass psychology or just the zeitgeist that's caused this global explosion of revolt? Will it be the empowering energy of the protests or the conservative backlash against them that will shape the future of democratic politics?