PLURALITY OF RESISTANCE AND CHANGES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION An Introductory Discussion on Differences and Similarities of Protest Practices

Abstract

5 In the European countries next to the Mediterranean Sea, we presently observe not only the manifold effects of austerity policies but also significant political and social changes triggered by the (economic) crisis since 2008. In many of these countries, we perceive new forms of social practices of networking, leading to growing opposition and protest articulated by local communities or by social movements, which are based on common acts of solidarity, cooperation and the establishment of (close) personal relationships. Many of these forms of protest do not seem to be characterized by typical and well-known political ideologies or trade unions’ demands (cf. Žižek 2012). Instead new practices develop, such as the (re)appropriation of public space, networking, alternative ways of protesting (such as in the case of Occupy or the Indignados), and sharing, inspired by concepts of grassroots-democracy, solidarity, and anti-consumerism (see, e.g., Corredera 2012; Fernández-Savater 2012). These movements can be understood as newcomers in the political arena of many Southern European countries, since they see themselves in a distinct opposition to the established – often clientelistic – political structures of their societies. The present special issue of Ethnologia Europaea focuses on these emerging collaborative protest practices in Mediterranean countries, which are related to or can be seen as effects of the ongoing economic crisis. Building on the assumption that the Mediterranean can be understood as a common frame of reference for comparative research and analysis (Kavanagh & Lauth Bacas 2011), six case studies are presented, which – based on in-depth fieldwork and participant observation – reflect collaborative interactions as practices of resistance and social or political change within new protest groups, solidarity initiatives and cultural projects related to specific local conflicts that have arisen in the wake of the crisis. In this introduction to the special issue, we will first present the basic analytical concepts referred to in the title of this volume: a heuristic definition of the concept of resistance as well as our understanding of the Mediterranean as a comparative framework for anthropological study and analysis. Second, we introduce the six ethnological and anthropological case studies. Based on ethnographic research in France, Italy, Slovenia and Greece, they address the social practices of networking and close collaboration in the context of social change or political activism since 2008. In a third and fourth step, we investigate the differences and the similarities of these new Mediterranean protest movements alongside the folPLURALITY OF RESISTANCE AND CHANGES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION An Introductory Discussion on Differences and Similarities of Protest Practices