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Towards a "Non-Global Justice Movement"? Two Paths to Re-scaling the Left Contention in the Czech Republic

Publication at Central Library of Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences |
2014

Abstract

This paper focuses on the transnationalization of social movements through a case study of leftist protest politics in the Czech Republic. Our main goal is to describe and understand the various paths by which the trajectory of claims-making of Czech left activism changed and remained "nationalized" or "localized" even during times of global financial and economic crisis, and to discuss the possible determinants of these processes.

We analytically focus on the period after 2000 for two reasons. First, by then the economic and political transition from the socialist regime was basically over, leading to the establishment of a consolidated democracy.

Second, the first massive transnational mobilization took place in Prague, leading to the temporary fulfilment of the transnationalization process of the Czech left movements. We deal with this exceptional moment of heightened transnational mobilization to illustrate the usefulness of our theoretical framework, and to contextualize our analysis of the period after it.