Social Movements, Democratic Participation and Contentious Politics

The course will introduce the main concepts and theoretical frameworks of the social movements and recent cases of global protest waves across the globe. The course will investigate three main theoretical aims i) the basic concepts of social movements ii) different approaches on social movements, democratic participation and contentious politics, and iii) the relationship between democracy, participation, collective action, and contentious politics in general. The course will also focus on the contemporary social movements, recent cases from different parts of the world, such as occupy movements, anti-austerity movements, urban movements, environmental movements, and climate change movement (e.g. Gezi Park protests in Turkey, Fridays for Future, Hambach forest protests, Ende Gelände in Germany, Extinction Rebellions, Arab Spring). The cases will be chosen and presented by the participants.