Contesting Austerity: Social Movements and the Left in Portugal and Spain (2008-2015)

Contesting Austerity compares the contentious responses to austerity in Portugal and Spain between 2008 and 2015. While in Spain a sustained wave of mobilisation lasted for three years and led to a transformation of the party system, in Portugal social movements mobilised only in specific instances, trade unions dominated protest and institutional change was limited. Contesting Austerity shows that trajectories and outcomes in these countries are linked to the nature and configurations of the players in the mobilisation process.

Tiago Carvalho is a political sociologist interested in social movements, political parties and social classes. He holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Cambridge and he is a researcher at the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology, and a member of Centre on Social Movement Studies (Florence).