Political Participation and Social Movements in a Changing World?

Continuing the Standing Group’s ongoing effort to make sense of participation and mobilization in turbulent times, this section invites panels that explore the shifting dynamics of political engagement and collective action today. As wars, political polarization, economic and ecological crises, and democratic backsliding continue to reshape public life, citizens and activists are reimagining how, when, and why they participate. Amid tightening constraints on civil society and the rise of illiberal politics, established repertoires of contention are being challenged and transformed, while new ones emerge. This section seeks to foster dialogue across these developments, encouraging theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions that advance our understanding of participation and social movements in a rapidly changing world. From the marches in solidarity with Palestine to resistance to creeping authoritarianism, from strike waves to climate-related civil disobedience, from feminist action to generational uprisings, collective action is still among the central phenomena of our time, and our section aims to address it in theoretically and empirically founded ways. The section revisits classic themes in light of this spirit, as well as emerging ones, with the aim of providing a meeting space for scholars working on social movements and political participation. While making sense of changes in today’s political context is part of the motivation for this section and for the need to continually revisit established assumptions about political action, we actively invite contributions that challenge these assumptions – particularly those concerning the uniqueness of our current moment and citizens’ and activists’ responses to it.