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The 'politicisation of Europe' has mainly been discussed with reference to Eurosceptic parties in the 'conventional' political arena. From the perspective of the anti-Brexit campaign in the UK and Pulse of Europe in Germany, this article focuses on grassroots pro-European mobilisation to explore the potential of politicisation 'from below'. The two movements stood out in their ability to provoke considerable levels of grassroot mobilisation. We argue, however, that both movements reached a strategic impasse that was marked by a lack of clarity about their desired future of Europe, and which hampered their ability to generate political change. Our comparative analysis of campaign materials and interview data reveals that these movements struggled to articulate a) diagnostic frames that struck the right balance between problematising the current political situation whilst supporting the established order, and b) prognostic frames that extended much beyond the defence of the status quo (ante). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a conceptual framework and introduction to the special section 'Mobilising around Europe: pro and anti-EU politics in an era of populism and nationalism'. By means of its four articles, the special section seeks to address the 'politicisation of Europe' outside of the conventional party-political arena. Whilst the future of European integration has become increasingly contested, not least due to the rise of Eurosceptic political parties of the populist radical right, we observe that politicisation has also occurred in the protest arena through grassroots activism. The contributions in this special section analyse these mobilisations, which have thus far received limited scholarly attention, and the positions and frames activists and various social movement organisations (SMOs) adopt concerning the future of European integration. By doing this, these articles reveal the often complex and context-dependent stances towards 'Europe' amongst actors across the ideological spectrum, which extend beyond dichotomous pro-/anti-EU positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]