Citizens’ Activism and Solidarity Movements

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Frontmatter

2. Chapter 1. Citizens’ Activism and Solidarity Movements in Contemporary Europe: Contending with Populism

   Birte Siim, Aino Saarinen, Anna Krasteva

   Abstract

   The introduction by Birte Siim, Anna Krasteva, and Aino Saarinen situates the book within the scholarly literature and European research. It is inspired by the challenges to understand the new forms of national populism linked to globalization, European integration, migration, and multiculturality/multiculturalism. The transformation of the political landscape, deconstruction of welfare states, and growth of exclusive nationalisms across Europe following the immigration and “refugee crisis” present a challenge to counterforces and solidarity movements to combat othering and exclusion. Hate speech and hate acts flourish, even in regimes that have previously been characterized as tolerant and inclusive. The aim is to make counterforces to right-wing populism in civil society visible and reflect critically on concepts such as citizenship, democracy, social movements, conflicts, and cooperation around race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class.

3. Chapter 2. Dilemmas of Citizenship and Evolving Civic Activism in Denmark

   Birte Siim, Susi Meret

   Abstract

   The Danish chapter by Birte Siim and Susi Meret explores dilemmas of citizenship by looking at the ways rightwing populism has been countered by mobilizations against exclusionary and discriminating Danish policies. The theoretical and methodological approach is inspired by scholarly literature reframing citizenship, democracy, and social movement theory to reflect critically upon the dilemmas of differentiated citizenship, civic activism, and participation in Danish politics and society. The analysis focuses on the goals, strategies, and motivations of diverse civil society associations, pro-migrant and refugee groups, and self-organized movements actively fighting against discrimination, racism, and othering. Key questions are: Who are the actors involved? What are their claims? What forms of activism do they practice? How do they cooperate? What are the perspectives of these movements and what are the results of their activities?

4. Chapter 3. Against Romanophobia, for Diversity and Equality: Exploring the Activism Modes of a “Movement Within a Movement” in Finland

   Aino Saarinen, Heini Puurunen, Airi Markkanen, Anca Enache

   Abstract

   The Finnish chapter by Aino Saarinen, Heini Puurunen, Airi Markkanen, and Anca Enache presents a “movement within a movement” that works to improve conditions for Eastern European Roma, the “beggars” who arrived in Finland as a result of EU’s free movement directive. The chapter is inspired by debates on acts of citizenship and the typology of political activism modes. It focuses on a few key pro-actors and their joint campaigning and annual forums with transnational links. Finnish Roma are mobilized for human rights and solidarity, but mobile Roma participate only for their economic interests. The political landscape is changing. The populist right-wingers are in the government where the Finns have promoted welfare nationalism/chauvinism. In the summer of 2017, however, the “migration critics” who took over the party ended up in opposition, whereas the new party in the making, to be called the Blue Future, is still in the government.

5. Chapter 4. Forging “the People” in the UK: The Appeal of Populism and the Resistant Antibodies

   Don Flynn, Gabriella Lazaridis

   Abstract

   The UK chapter by Don Flynn and Gabriella Lazaridis presents the version of populism as a mode of doing politics on the ascendency in Britain since the 1980s in the form of the “authoritarian populism” of Margaret Thatcher’s governments. The subsequent New Labour administration rested on populist methodology promoted through a “progressive lens.” The rise of the “insurgent” populist party, UKIP, is understood as, in Arditi’s phase, an example of the “threatening underside” of the democratic discourse, when conflicts within the political order are heightened and the sense of fragmentation becomes more pervasive across society. As the political discourse revolves around definitions of “the people” and presumptions of its interests, populism also provokes reactions at the base of society, giving rise to what we term the “antibodies” of populism. The processes that give rise to these actions and the way they represent themselves in the politics are considered in a series of case studies.

6. Chapter 5. The (Im)Possibility of Creating Counter-Hegemony Against the Radical Right: The Case of Austria

   Birgit Sauer

   Abstract

   The Austrian chapter by Birgit Sauer emphasizes the electoral successes of the radical right, which since the 1990s have triggered the formation of civil society organizations that oppose the mobilization of hate against immigrants. It shows the weakness of Austrian civil society organizations in forging alliances and shifting their activities towards solidarity with other activists, common strategic framing, and transversal politics. It refers to some alliances that go beyond identity issues, but emphasizes that transversal framings of racism that actively include feminism, gender, sexuality, and class are overall missing. Only some civil society organizations explicitly link the issue of voting preferences for the radical right to neoliberal transformations of work and family and thus connect anti-racism to issues of social inequality and marginalization at the intersection of gender and race.

7. Chapter 6. We Are Still Here and Staying! Refugee-Led Mobilizations and Their Struggles for Rights in Germany

   Susi Meret, Waldemar Diener

   Abstract

   The German chapter by Susi Meret and Walther Diener discusses collective mobilizations and resistance movements started by non-status refugees in Germany protesting stricter asylum and migration laws, the lack of basic freedoms and rights. The emergence and activities of these groups demonstrate the rise of politicization where refugees with(out) status are key actors building awareness about their marginalization and rightlessness. Germany is in this sense paradigmatic: Refugee-led mobilizations (e.g. Lampedusa in Hamburg, the Berlin Refugee Strike Movement) have taken place in several major cities particularly in 2012–2015. We argue that contemporary refugee struggles feature significant practices of political subjectivation, self-organization and empowerment that display similarities across Germany. This chapter focuses on the specific urban (activist) contexts of Hamburg and Berlin and on the ways mobilization strategies have been “transformed” by and with self-organized refugees.

8. Chapter 7. The Anti-discrimination Activism in a Backlash Context: A Panorama of the French Situation

   Etienne Pingaud

   Abstract

   The French chapter by Etienne Pingaud explores the challenges for anti-discrimination activism in France in a backlash context. It aims to understand the shift in French discrimination policies during the past decades and the implications of the strong conservative countermovement. The chapter focuses on LGBT rights activists/activism. It looks at the transformations of daily activism, the practical tools and concrete work and on the way activists perceive their activism through focus group discussions. The focus area is what these political and ideological changes mean for activists involved in anti-discrimination movements. On the one hand, the struggle against discrimination has become mainstream; on the other hand, it has been made more difficult by the intellectual and ideological “backlash” that emerged in France in the 2000s.

9. Chapter 8. Racism, Post-democracy, and Economy That Kills: The Challenges of Civil Society Movements in Italy

   Giovanna Campani

   Abstract

   The Italian chapter by Giovanna Campani analyzes the complex present European context characterized by the rise of the far right, the mainstreaming of populist ideas, and a shift toward illiberal democracy. The comeback of racism and xenophobia is part of the picture. With Italy as case study, the chapter examines the multiple reactions of civil society to contemporary political trends, outlining their fragmentation and their distance from the traditional “mainstream” political parties. The fieldwork reveals a deep need for direct democratic participation as well as the difficulties in defining common goals. It argues that racism, post-democracy, and the economy "that kills" represent the main challenges of civil society movements in Italy.

10. Chapter 9. Being a Citizen in Times of Mainstreaming of Populism: Building Post-communist Contestatory and Solidary Citizenship

    Anna Krasteva, Evelina Staykova, Ildiko Otova

    Abstract

    The Bulgarian chapter by Anna Krasteva with Evelina Staykova and Ildiko Otova analyzes the (in)capacity of the civic countering to the unprecedented wave of nationalist and xenophobic discourses and to the diversification and multiplication of extremist actors, to theorize the emergence and development of the civic agency through a variety of approaches. Post-communist civic agency is conceptualized through three theoretical models: Donatella della Porta’s diffusion model, Isin and Nielsen’s acts of citizenship, and Krasteva’s contestatory citizenship. The article regards citizenship as politics of transformation and examines the possibility of a neo-post-transformation: a positive overturning of the negative trend in the mainstreaming of national populism. It maps post-communist citizenships and compares three types of citizenship—green, Occupy, and solidary—in three respects: the adversaries whose hegemony they attack, the audibility of their claims, and the temporalities of mobilizations.

11. Chapter 10. Feminist Movements’ Acts of Citizenship: Experiences from Post-Socialist Slovenia

    Mojca Pajnik

    Abstract

    The Slovenian chapter by Mojca Pajnik perceives social movements, not just as individual actions of protest but also as an opportunity to create new ways of thinking and being in the world. It discusses feminist movements’ “acts of citizenship”, that is, alternatives to patriarchy, neoliberalism, and racism by way of analyzing articulations and operations of movements in the context of post-socialist Slovenia. Based on focus group discussions with various protagonists of feminist movements and on participant observation at events, the chapter discusses the pertinent issues for these movements, their ideas, as well as concrete actions and strategies of resistance. By way of contrasting and connecting contemporary and “older” civil society feminist actors, the chapter offers insights into their perceptions of democracy, meanings of anti-racial struggle, and tactics of civil disobedience as well as their operational strategies, that is, how they are connected and what tactics they use in struggle.

12. Chapter 11. Citizens’ Activism for Reimagining and Reinventing Citizenship Countering Far-Right Populism

    Anna Krasteva, Aino Saarinen, Birte Siim

    Abstract

    This concluding chapter by Anna Krasteva/Aino Saarinen and Birte Siim sums up the book’s contribution to “critical citizenship studies” in the epoch of transition from globalization to mainstreaming of national populism, conceptualizing civic activism and solidarity movements as challengers to national citizenship, and reinvention of citizenships—contestatory, solidary, everyday, creative, and so on. The challenges are met by the practice of civic actors, pro-migrants, pro-Roma, pro-LGBT, and feminists in nine national case studies. A major contribution of the book is the analysis of the transformation of actors into activists and of vulnerable individuals into self-empowered actors claiming rights, focusing on innovative practices of inclusiveness as politics of solidarity and “acts of friendship”. Civic activism is mapped in the coordinated system of contestatory vs. solidary citizenship and their impact on both politics and policies.

13. Chapter 12. Activist Citizens: An Afterword

    Donatella della Porta

    Abstract

    The afterword by Donatella della Porta presents the book’s contribution to theory and research on migrant rights, one of the main issues of this collection. It emphasizes that there has been a gap in social movement studies, which have focused mainly on “new”, post-materialist actors, while the analysis of social movements for or against forced migrants’ rights has rarely be addressed. Migration movements have instead been addressed in citizenship studies, often with a normative concern. In this context, this collection succeeds in contributing to a dialogue between social movement studies and citizenship studies, pointing at some potential innovations in both. The afterword highlights four contributions, pointing at contextual opportunities and constraints as well as the characteristics of the mobilizations between acts of resistance and solidarity.

14. Backmatter