Social Movements and Europeanization

Abstract

Are social movement organizations euroskeptical? Or do they accept the EU as a new level of governance to place pressure on? Do they provide a critical capital, necessary for the political structuring of the EU? This book includes surveys of activists at international protest events, targeting the European Union (for a total of about 5000 interviews); a discourse analysis of documents and transcripts of debates on European politics and policies conducted during the four European Social Forums held between 2002 and 2006 and involving hundreds of social movements and tens of thousands of activists from all European countries; about 96 interviews with representatives of civil society organizations in seven European countries, and a systematic claims analysis of the daily press in selected years between 1996 and 2003. The empirical research shows the different path of Europeanization taken by social movements and civil society organizations.