Protest on Unemployment: Forms and Opportunities

Abstract

The "return" of poor people movements encourages reflection on the impact of changes in the social structure, the availability of organizational resources, and political and discursive opportunities for collective action. Based on a quantitative and qualitative claim analysis in six European countries, this article maps unemployment-related protest actions in three areas: (a) long-term unemployment; (b) massive dismissals; and (c) unemployment and labor policies within more general cycles of protest. The article discusses the actors, the forms and claims of the protests, and the social and political opportunities for their development. Protests on unemployment tend to assume some similar forms, each oriented to stress the "absolute injustice" of the position of the unemployed. The framing of the issues of both labor changes and the evolution of the labor market restates the importance of social dynamics for political protest. Unions as well as other social movements and political actors play an important role in the protest against unemployment.