Protest, Youth, and Precariousness

Sinopsis

After over a decade of the austerity measures that followed the 2008 financial crisis - entailing severe, unpopular policies that have galvanized opposition and frayed social ties - what lies next for European societies?

Portugal offers an interesting case for exploring this question, as a nation that was among the hardest hit by austerity and is now seeking a fresh path forward.

This collection brings together sociologists, social movement specialists, political scientists, and other scholars to look specifically at how Portuguese youth have navigated this politically and economically difficult period, negotiating uncertain social circumstances as they channel their discontent into protest and collective action.

By focusing on young people, Protest, Youth, and Precariousness investigates the collective reaction to the economic and financial crisis and the consequent austerity measures most governments have put in place to mitigate or to address it. It questions a precarization of employment that has been accelerated by the crisis and austerity measures. Although the book focuses on one case study, Portugal, the issues it deals with have a much larger scope of relevance, as they affect all European countries and societies.  Simone Baglioni, Glasgow Caledonian University