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Abstract
In recent years, a rapidly expanding literature has pointed to the emergence of cross-border activism, only rarely focusing on the mechanisms whereby a transnational agenda might lead to actual mobilization. By comparing national campaigns, one can gain a greater feel for domestic political settings and how congenial these are to the birth or spread of transnational protest. Drawing from the political opportunity approach, this article assesses the relative merit of explanations based on institutional access, changing political environments, past or concomitant social movement activity and multilevel political opportunities in accounting for differences in the scope, timing and dynamics of the Jubilee 2000 campaign in three creditor countries. While all four aspects of the political opportunity structure contributed to the scope of the domestic mobilizations, we find that only a combination of shifting domestic political environment and international events can explain their timing. The imprint of past or parallel campaigns further played a critical role in ensuring (or not) their longevity.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Miriam Allam for her efficient research assistance on the German case, and the two anonymous referees for Social Movement Studies for their helpful comments.
Notes
1. Work has since continued, notably with the establishment in April 2001 of follow-up movement Jubilee Movement International.
2. The other being Japan, which later established its own Jubilee coalitions.
3. Eurodad (European Network on Debt and Development) is a network of forty-eight development non-governmental organizations from fifteen European countries. Throughout the campaign, Eurodad's secretariat provided advice and support and circulated relevant information to member organizations.
4. After siding with the French refusal to cancel Iraq's debts, Finance Minister Eichel declined to support Gordon Brown's October 2004 initiative, on the grounds that it would not be acceptable to cancel the debts of African states at the same time as the German people were asked to shoulder harsh social cuts (Tagesspiegel, 5 October 2004).
5. The March 2001 creation of a Paris Club website, coupled with pledges of greater transparency by President Jean-Pierre Jouyet, would later be hailed as a significant breakthrough by campaign coordinators.
6. The demands of the Comité pour l'Annulation de la Dette du Tiers Monde (CADTM) range from the cancellation of Third World external debt to the conversion of military spending into social and cultural expenditures.
7. In 2003, the Evangelical and Catholic Churches received €160 million from the federal government.
8. Data from national Finance Ministries, accessible at http://www.jubileeplus.org/databank/debttables/bilateral.htm (accessed 18 May 2004).
9. Within the CDI the government would cancel the remaining aid debts, worth £132 million of those poorer (lower middle income) Commonwealth countries that would meet certain economic performance and good governance criteria. As of 2002, twelve countries had benefited from the initiative.
10. In 2001, the issue came fourth in the UK and eighth in the European panel, this time a testimony to the particular impact of the Jubilee campaign in Britain.
11. This is notably asserted by Martin Dent, co-founder of the campaign: ‘In our original committee we rejected a proposal that the name should be changed from ‘Jubilee 2000’ to ‘Debt-Free 2000’, and, subsequently, we have derived enormous momentum from the support of all the churches’ (Dent, Citation1999, p. 32).
12. When asked why the French debt relief campaign had failed to replicate the success of the British one, CCFD coordinator Alex de la Forest-Divonne pointed to differences in both resources and tactics: ‘We do not have the same striking power […] Jubilee 2000 had more than twenty full-time staff in London, whereas we are only two, part-time. Jubilee 2000 used the media to the full, attracted stars like Bono, even produced its own TV ads’ (Libération, 19 June 2002). In 1999, Erlassjahr 2000 was employing five full-time staff.
