Panel organized at the ECPR General Conference 2014, Standing group on Southern European Politics
Panel Chair: Giorgos Charalambous (PRIO Cyprus Centre and University of Cyprus).
If you are interested in proposing a Paper to this Panel, please contact Giorgios Charalambous. Deadline for Panel submissions (which include Papers) is 15 February.
Abstract
Social contention in the form of strikes, protests, riots and violent acts tends to be an important characteristic of countries in crisis. Southern European countries – Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain – are currently experiencing a dramatic economic slump and fully fledged austerity measures. Accordingly, the standard of living of large parts of southern European populaces has suffered dramatically and political alignments have been affected. Nevertheless, the proliferating dynamics of social contention that accompany these experiences remain understudied. The phenomenon of citizens and social groups seeking alternative, confrontational and even illegal channels of influence or resistance by attempting to challenge the legitimacy of political institutions and actors may not be new, but it has not been sufficiently inrorporated by scholars into the larger study of crisis environments. How economic malaise unfolds into societal behaviour cannot be fully appreciated without assessing the patterns and causes of social contention. Similarly, the consequences of contentious acts for the modalities of political competition and public governance can offer comparative insights into the cultures of policy making at times of economic crisis.
Why in certain southern European countries social contention has increased to unprecedented heights while in others social upset has not translated into contentious acts? Why some forms of protest flourish over others? What is the role of the internet and the media in initiating, spreading or obstructing contentious acts? To what extent, if at all, has social contention exercised influence on the programmatic positions offered by parties, or the policies implemented by governments, either at the national or sub-national level? The panel invites empirical papers that aim at answering the above and other related questions in an attempt to interrogate further the particularities of the countries of southern Europe and the sociopolitical manifestations of the ongoing economic crisis.