Challenging Austerity: Radical Left and Social Movements in the South of Europe (Routledge Studies in Radical History and Politics) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0367593815 ISBN 13: 9780367593810

Publisher: Routledge, 2020

Synopsis

This book analyses social movements and radical political parties’ strategies in Spain, Greece, Portugal and Italy from 2008 to today. Events in 2011 such as the Arab Spring and the indignados movement in Spain initiated a new cycle of social protest. This book explores how the economic crisis and policies of austerity have transformed and continue to transform social movements, trade unions and radical political parties in Southern Europe.

The economic crisis has led to a rise in protest movements, which confront political institutions and conventional forms of democracy, and develop new spatial and organisational strategies. This book examines these cases, in addition to those groups who, contrastingly, have used institutional politics to achieve their aims, such as new political parties like Podemos in Spain or Movimento 5 Stelle in Italy.

Analysing the extent to which there has been a change in approach when it comes to contesting neo-liberal capitalism, this book makes an important contribution to the study of social movements and radical politics. With a comparative perspective and an emphasis on studying the largely unexplored recent social and political dynamics in the European periphery, this book is essential reading for students, scholars and activists interested in social movements, radical politics and European politics more generally.

About this title

About the Author

Beltrán Roca is a Lecturer of Sociology at the University of Cadiz, Spain.

Emma Martín-Díaz is a Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Seville, Spain.

Ibán Díaz-Parra is a Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Seville, Spain.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0367593815
• ISBN 13: 9780367593810
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 180
• Editor: Roca Beltrán, Martín-Díaz Emma, Díaz-Parra Ibán