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The impact of legacies and memories on social movements has been paid only limited attention in what is now a sizeable literature. While there is a growing interest in memory, there is little systematic theory or comparative research on the long-lasting institutional consequences of important events―or how they are remembered by future generations. In Legacies and Memories in Movements, Donatella della Porta and her collaborators examine the concepts of historical legacy and memory, suggesting ways to apply them in analyses of the long-term effects of movements, movement participation, and movement strategies and tactics. In particular, they explore a critical juncture, rich with consequences for social movements: the transition to democracy. Through a comparative-historical study of social movements in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece, the authors tease out the complex and varied ways different modes of transition can produce new types and uses of memories for social movements. To do so, they analyze how moments of transition create institutional change that impacts future movements and consider how past protests enhance and constrain social movements today. Focusing on the reverberation of events and how past events serve as guides for the future, Legacies and Memories in Movements brings together the literature on collective memory and social movements for the first time. -- Preface -- Chapter 1 Past and Present: History as Resource and Constraint for Social Movements -- Chapter 2 Transition Times in Memory -- Chapter 3 Institutional Legacies -- Chapter 4 Movements' Legacies -- Chapter 5 Movement Memories -- Chapter 6 Legacies, Memories, and Social Movements: Some Comparative Remarks -- References -- List of Interviews

This Paper deals with the current transformations of Solidarity Purchase Groups (SPGs) in Italy. We particularly wonder if and eventually how the economic crisis and austerity policies have affected SPGs. Through an approach based on the literature on political consumerism and social movements, six hypotheses are proposed: ‘less economic resources, less SPGs,’ ‘cultural path dependency,’ ‘increased op-portunities,’ ‘isomorphism,’ ‘civic traditions,’ and ‘resilience.’ Empirical data focus on Italian and Tuscan SPGs, by both articulating different research methods and focalizing on different levels. Although our work has only an explorative aim, our analysis shows that the amount of available economic resources cannot per se lead to a satisfying understanding of the evolution of SPGs. Hypotheses based on culture and politi-cal processes seem to be more promising and can point to the resilience capacity of those groups. Post-materialistic values resulting from economic well-being might have produced organized practices of political consumerism. However, once political consumerism gets structured—this is our tentative argument—not only does it resist to external shocks but also it transforms itself and adapts to the new conditions imposed by crises, that is, it becomes ‘resilient.’ The ‘resilience hypothesis’ applied to SPGs nevertheless has to face some social cleavages.

This book analyses protests against the Great Recession in the European periphery. While social movements have long been considered as children of affluent times - or at least of times of opening opportunities - these protests defy such expectations, developing instead in moments of diminishing opportunities in both the economic and the political realms. Can social movement studies still be useful to understanding these movements of troubled times? The authors offer a positive answer to this question, although specify the need to bridge contentious politics with other fields, including political economy. They highlight differences in the social movements’ strength and breadth and attempt to understand them in terms of three sets of dimensions: a) the specific characteristics of the socio-economic crisis and its consequences in terms of mobilization potential; b) the political reactions to it, in what we can define as political opportunities and threats; and c) the social movement cultures and structures that characterize each country. The book discusses these topics through a contextualized analysis of anti-austerity protest in the European periphery. -- Late Neoliberalism and Its Discontents: An Introduction, della Porta, Donatella, pp. 1-38 -- Iceland’s Mobilization in the Financial Crisis, Vogiatzoglou, Markos, pp. 39-64 -- The Presence and Absence of Protest in Austerity Ireland, O’Connor, Francis, pp. 65-98 -- Turbulent Flow: Anti-Austerity Mobilization in Greece, Vogiatzoglou, Markos, pp. 99-129 -- Late Neoliberalism and Its Indignados: Contention in Austerity Spain, Romanos, Eduardo, pp. 131-167 -- Late Neoliberalism and Its Discontents: The Case of Portugal, Fernandes, Tiago, pp. 169-200 -- Neoliberalism and Its Discontents in Italy: Protests Without Movement?, Andretta, Massimiliano, pp. 201-241 -- Cyprus’ Explosion: Financial Crisis and Anti-austerity Mobilization, Vogiatzoglou, Markos, pp. 243-259 -- Late Neoliberalism and Its Discontents: A Comparative Conclusion, della Porta, Donatella, pp. 261-296

In this article we analyse protestors' attitudes during time of economic crisis in Italy, by comparing demonstrations traditionally classified as belonging to old versus new movements. The results show that the financial crisis and the related political crisis have indeed produced a shared agreement on the defense of the attacked social rights and mistrust in representative institutions. However, participants' frames and political positions differ among the participants we have surveyed at four demonstrations, three of which directly addressed issues of social justice and one focusing on peace.