TransSOL researchers presented new findings about civil society activism in times of crisis in a jointly organised panel with the Livewhat project at the General Conference of the European Consortium for Political Research, which took place on 7-10 September 2016 at the Charles University in Prague. Under the title “Transnational Solidarity and Alternative Action Organisations in European Countries at Times of Crisis” TransSOL and Livewhat teams provided fresh and systematic analyses about alternative action and transnational solidarity organisations which help individuals and groups across European countries to confront hard times, especially in the context of the recent economic and refugee crises.
The panel brought together experts from the field of social movements and civil societies who are currently engaged in comparative, cross-national research on how people cope with crises through individual, group or organisational activities. More specifically, the panel introduced a new methodological approach that consists of an innovative hubs-based website analysis of solidarity organisations. This new approach is based on the foundational social movements’ method of protest event analysis. All presented papers draw on this approach and offer original empirical data related to solidarity organisations and initiatives, produced in the context of two European projects. Comparative accounts of the papers highlight internal features of the randomly selected solidarity organisations as well as the political opportunities and threats they face, either at the national and the transnational level during the recent economic as well as refugee crisis. Moreover, one of the papers focuses at the national level (Italy) and interrogates the social movement and political character of the alternative action organisations which flourished, especially during the crisis period.
More information about the panel is provided on the conference website.