The Greek Indignados Movement and Anti-Austerity Protest in 2011

Previous studies of recent protest movements, such as the Occupy and Indignados movements, have emphasised their ‘new politics’ character, mobilising young people who have no connection to political parties and trade unions. Nevertheless, the first wave of anti-austerity protest in Greece in 2010 lacked these characteristics and was primarily driven by ‘old politics’ and prior socialisation into protest. The aim of this paper is to explore the drivers of protest in the second, larger wave of mobilisation in 2011, which also show the emergence of the Greek version of the Indignados, known as the aganaktismenoi. It draws on original panel data of the Greek adult population collected in 2010-2012 and additional primary data. The analysis suggests that trade unions and left-wing political parties still remain of prime importance in the mobilisation process and explores the theoretical and comparative implications of the Greek case.