Citizens’ Political Responses to Economic Crises: Grievances or Opportunities?

Abstract

Do economic crises lead to greater or lesser political participation? Do grievances lead to protest and other forms of unconventional political engagement? Or rather, does the experience of economic crisis lead people to exit the political sphere? How does this vary for the conventional and unconventional political domains? And what about membership of SMOs/NGOs? Do findings apply to the general population or only to those groups most hard hit by the economic crisis? Grievances and relative deprivation have been increasingly dismissed as explanations for political protest. Instead, mobilization models emphasizing the importance of resources, political opportunities, and the construction of ideological frames for political solidarity have received more support. But may hardships stemming from economic crisis rather spur political engagement as recent waves of contention seem to suggest? What is the role of absolute and relative deprivation? In relation to which reference group(s) should the latter be understood? To address these important questions for understanding political participation in times of crisis, this panel invites papers addressing the political responses of citizens to economic crises, and in particular the role of grievances and opportunities for explaining such responses. Both individual-level and collective-level analyses can be proposed, insofar as they focus on political responses to economic crises. Empirical comparative studies are particularly welcome. Some further research questions that could be considered include: How do different types of European citizens construct economic crisis and how does this relate to their political participation? Do European citizens feel the at the European Union’s reactions to the economic crises have been adequate? Do they feel more confident or less confident in the European Union as a result and does this have any repercussions on their political activism? Are there important differences across social groups or countries in constructions of crisis and in citizens’ political reactions?