ABSTRACT
In the preceding chapters, we have discussed differences and similarities in the mobilization of new social movements across countries and across movements. We now focus on a third dimension: the dynamics of NSMs over time. This dimension was touched upon in chapter 3, where we analyzed the impact of discrete changes in political opportunity structures on the level of mobilization of NSMs. However, this analysis remained confined to a static comparison of mobilization levels before and after changes in POS, and leaves us with a number of questions as to the subsequent development of NSMs. We have, for instance, shown that there are important differences among countries in the action repertoires of NSMs. But are these repertoires constant within each country, or do they also fluctuate over time in systematic ways? Another question concerns the sudden character of the expansion of NSMs at the beginning of the 1980s in Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. After all, the POS changes that triggered this expansion were relatively gradual. And, perhaps most important, why did the level of mobilization in these countries decline again after a certain period of time? Again, POS provides an insufficient explanation. The conservative backlash within the Dutch Social Democratic Party may explain why decline was relatively pronounced in the Netherlands. However, this leaves unexplained why protest also declined in West Germany after 1986, even though, with the opening up of the Social Democrats and the increasing success of the Green party, the NSMs’ opportunity structure seemed more favorable than ever before.
