European social movements have become increasingly visible in recent years, generating intense public debates. From anti-austerity and pro-democracy movements to right-wing nationalist movements, these movements expose core conflicts around European democracy, identity, politics and society. The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary European Social Movements offers a comprehensive interdisciplinary overview of the analysis of European social movements, helping to orient scholars and students navigating a rapidly evolving field while developing a new agenda for research in the area.

The book is divided into eight sections: Visions of Europe; Contemporary models of democracy; Historical evolution of major European movements; Feminism and sexualities; Movement diffusion within and beyond Europe; Anti-austerity movements; Technopolitical and media movements; and Movements, parties and movement-parties. Key theories and empirical trajectories of core movements, their central issues, debates and impacts are covered, with a focus on how these have influenced and been influenced by their European context. Democracy, and how social movements understand it, renew it, or undermine it, forms a core thread that runs through the book.

Written in a clear and direct style, the Handbook provides a key resource for students and scholars hoping to understand the key debates and innovations unfolding in the heart of European social movements and how these affect broader debates on such areas as democracy, human rights, the right to the city, feminism, neoliberalism, nationalism, migration and European values, identity and politics. Extensive references and sources will direct readers to areas of further study.

Cristina Flesher Fominaya is Excellence 100 Reader in Social Politics and Media at Loughborough University and an internationally recognized expert in European social movement and politics. She holds an MA and a PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BA summa cum laude in International Relations from the University of Minnesota. She has been researching and participating in European social movements since the early 1990s, exploring the dynamics of digital media use, deliberative cultures and collective identity formation in autonomous movements. Flesher Fominaya has published and edited widely in the area of social movements, and has two books forthcoming: Social Movements in a Globalized World, 2nd ed. (Palgrave, 2019) and Democracy Reloaded: Inside Spain’s Political Laboratory from 15-M to Podemos (Oxford University Press, 2020).

Ramón A. Feenstra is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Sociology at the Universitat Jaume I of Castellón (Spain). He graduated in Advertising and Public Relations at the same university (2005) and in History at UNED (Open University of Spain) (2013). In 2010, he became a Doctor of Moral Philosophy at the Universitat Jaume I. The fields he writes about are linked primarily to the democracy theory and communication ethics. He has published the following books: Refiguring Democracy: The Spanish Political Laboratory (co-authored with Simon Tormey, Andreu Casero and John Keane, Routledge 2017), Ética de la publicidad: Retos en la era digital (Dykinson, 2014) and Democracia monitorizad en la era de la nueva galaxia mediática (Icaria, 2012). He has published articles in journals such as The International Journal of Press Politics, Journal of Business Ethics, Media International Australia, Voluntas, The Journal of Civil Society, Revista del Clad Reforma y Democracia and Policy Studies.