in: Journal of European Public Policy |DOI| open access

Abstract

This introduction to the special issue argues that the succession of major crises in recent years has fundamentally transformed Europe’s protest landscape. Rather than steady expansion, recent developments are marked by episodic surges in mobilisation and an overall decline in protest activity, alongside the normalisation of far-right protest actors and growing diversity of claims and participants. These shifts move protest beyond the classical image of routinised, left-libertarian, and institutionally anchored activism. We describe this complex pattern as ‘new contentious politics’ and call for more systematic engagement from both comparative politics and public policy scholars. The special issue empirically examines three dimensions: changes in protest levels, forms, and claims (protest supply); trends in the composition and motivations of participants (protest demand); and the responses of political elites and institutional outcomes (protest outcomes). Together, the contributions challenge established assumptions and point to a protest arena that is increasingly fragmented, volatile, and heterogeneous.