The Protest Cycle of Spring 2010 in Greece

Abstract

The spring 2010 mass demonstrations in Greece, against the austerity plans imposed by the national government, point to certain new features of collective action for trade-union mobilizations. Here, we profile the conditions and the content of these mobilizations, and analyse the latter, aiming to show that they are forms of social protest which Tarrow calls a ‘mobilization phase of a cycle of contention’. We argue that these forms have enabled social movement actors to overcome – even temporarily – the historically rooted basic weaknesses of organization, collaboration and co-ordination in the Greek trade-union movement.

Keywords:

• Demonstrations
• strikes
• trade unions
• collective action
• protest cycle
• Greece