• Abstract: NSU, Halle, Hanau, and more — politically motivated murders with a right-wing extremist background are a disturbing and ongoing reality in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. These are by no means isolated cases; rather, they are embedded in a broader context of right-wing violence, such as the arson attacks in Solingen. How can and should a democratic society address this issue at the local level? What lessons have been learned from German history, and where does the process of coming to terms with the past still fall short? The contributions offer exemplary and fundamental approaches from an interdisciplinary perspective and thereby open up critical perspectives on contemporary practices of remembrance.

    Access the publication here: https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839472385

  • Abstract: Faced with the growing influence of multinational corporations on global politics and economy, civil society organizations play an increasing role in holding corporations accountable for human rights violations and environmental degradation. However, the effectiveness of global civil society in this role and the consequences of power dynamics between donors and funded organizations for corporate accountability (CA) strategies are still disputed. This article uses original data on 290 civil society actors to examine the role of funding sources for the organizations’ repertoires and aims. The main findings reveal that receiving funding from state or government authorities reduces the probability of using contentious strategies, whereas funding from charities has no such effect. Funding from state or government authorities also diminishes the likelihood of organizations to pursue more radical claims such as economic reforms. Such funding, then, becomes an impediment to seeking structural change and to employing more radical repertoires. The article concludes that CA initiatives, while using the tools and resources that the current legal, economic and political system provides, can, at least potentially, fail to have the intended effect. Rather than challenging power and provoking structural change, they can contribute to cementing existing power structures and legitimizing dominant discourses.

    Access the publication here: https://doi.org/10.1111/glob.70024

  • Abstract: The pandemic did not bring protest politics to a halt. Instead, it sparked diverse and divergent forms of contention. This study compares the development and characteristics of anti-containment protests in Germany and Italy, offering three innovations. Conceptually, we introduce the notion of a protest script characterized by specific routinized dynamics and a contentious choreography, as well as frames expressed in slogans, banners, and speeches. Methodologically, we rely on video-enhanced protest event analysis (vPEA) to uncover these scripts, combining classical newspaper-based protest event data with video data analysis. Empirically, we show that the level of protest was higher in Germany than in Italy. Despite differences in the level and timing of protests, the study shows similarities and divergences in the countries’ protest scripts. Driven by far right and esoteric New Age actors, the protest events in both countries exhibit an escalating dynamic in terms of their choreography and the prevalence of conspiratorial and anti-systemic claims.

    The publication can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2025.2554603

  • Abstract: This book offers a detailed overview of the politics of contemporary social movements in Central and Eastern Europe. The analysis of 11 countries reveals the relevance of protest events, social movements, and civil society in shaping democratic transition and consolidation, electoral politics and institutions, socio-economic policies, and geopolitical orientation. This volume shows how power structures and government institutions respond to civic mobilisations and protests, using diverse tactics ranging from co-option to repression and how protests and mobilisations became consequential in the region's politics.

    The publication can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-77888-9

  • Abstract: This article analyzes the duality of social movement actors’ embeddedness in specific memory cultures and their mnemonic work in reinforcing these cultures. We examine the role of memory during the Romanian mass protests of 2017, which arose in response to legal reforms perceived as undermining anti-corruption efforts. The protests were influenced by narratives of failed transition and personal and structural continuities regarding the communist past. We analyze how the memory and postmemory of communism were actively mobilized to draw parallels between the current political establishment and the communist past. We contend that this mnemonic framing delegitimized the post-1989 political order by invoking unresolved breaks with the communist past and unfulfilled post-transition promises, thereby fueling demands for democratic renewal and profound systemic change within Romanian society. This anti-establishment framing laid the discursive groundwork for new political parties, such as USR and AUR, that challenged the established ones.

    The publication can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.3828/jrns.2025.11