Whereas in the U.S. Occupy Wall Street mobilized primarily tent activists and met with a mixed public reception, earlier the same year protests of “indignant” youth in Southern Europe and Israel spurred mega-demonstrations and won broad public support. What explains the appearance of rare “encompassing” protests, and why did they occur in some countries and not others during the 2011 protest wave? Did participants in Europe and Israel cross class, cultural and political boundaries more than the Americans who supported and participated in Occupy? What political mechanisms and protest practices facilitate diversity of participation in mega-protests? We will draw on the literature on social movements and contentious politics, and will look closely at diverse national cases.
Each student will write 1 short paper and 1 long research paper, as well as actively participating in classes and posting comments and questions on upcoming readings every second week.
Instructor: Michael Shalev
Subfield: Comparative Politics
The Junior Seminars are intense writing seminars which focus on the research area of the faculty member teaching the course. The seminars provide an opportunity for students to have direct intellectual interactions with faculty members while also giving the students an understanding for faculty research. Junior seminars fulfill upper division requirements for the major.
Students will be able to directly enroll in this junior seminar in Phase 1 as long as they are declared Political Science majors in their junior or senior year (based on year, NOT units) and haven't taken a junior seminar before. NOTE: IF you have taken a junior seminar before, you must wait until Phase 2 to enroll; otherwise, you will be eventually dropped from the seminar.