Social movements and referendums: an introduction

The Great Recession that hit Europe in 2008 can be seen as a critical juncture, triggering not only socioeconomic but also political transformations. In the area hardest hit by the financial crisis, particularly in the European periphery, waves of protest challenged the austerity policies adopted by national governments, under heavy pressure from lending institutions including the European Central Bank, the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund. These protest waves – often defined as indignados or occupy movements – simultaneously reflected and strengthened a legitimacy crisis, triggered by the manifest lack of responsibility taken by political institutions for the suffering of their citizens (della Porta, 2015). Protests took different forms in different countries, influenced as they were by the specific timing and characteristics of the financial crisis as well as the domestic political opportunities and threats for social movements (della Porta et al, 2016). These protests also had immediate and often dramatic effects on the party systems, fuelling not only the breakdown of mainstream parties but also the rapid (and unexpected) development of movement parties (della Porta et al, 2017). This political tumult affected not only local, but also national and European elections. Social movements also exploited windows of opportunity offered by institutions of direct democracy, in particular through referendums that were sponsored or infiltrated ‘from below’.

Several of these ‘referendums from below’ took place in Europe during the Great Recession. Nationalism became a particular focus of discussion, with the referendums on Scottish independence as well as the pseudo-referendum for Catalonian independence. Notwithstanding their very different institutional settings, the processes had several characteristics in common. Both showed that late neoliberalism had challenged citizens’ loyalty to representative institutions, but also that dissatisfaction triggered political activism rather than apathy. In particular, in both cases, we observe a trade-off between political elites and social movement actors that sought to exploit the campaigns to advance their aspirations. While Scottish political elites called for the referendum, social movement organisations appropriated the campaign in order to promote their vision of a more socially just and democratic society. In Catalonia, social movement actors launched a campaign on self-determination and independence.