ABSTRACT
Introduction One of the most striking consequences of the European Sovereign Debt (ESD) crisis has been the scale and variety of mobilisation of movements and civil society groups, against the policies of national, European Union (EU) or international authorities. These movements have largely focused their activities and practices at the domestic and/or local level. When new opportunity structures emerge, however, some movements collaborate with movements in other parts of the world. This collaboration may result in spreading (diffusion) from one place to another (horizontal) and/or scale shifting from national to EU and international levels (vertical) indicating the emergence of ‘transnational contention’. Transnational social movements involve ‘people and groups who are rooted in specific national contexts, but who engage in contentious political activities’ beyond borders and become part of ‘transnational networks of contacts and conflicts’ (Tarrow 2005: 29).
