Introduction

The Introduction spells out the main goal of the book: to trace and explain the differentiated politicization in the European Union of austerity and free trade, perceived as a threat to democratic sovereignty. Protests against austerity and the free trade agreements ACTA, TTIP, and CETA were diffused across the EU following very different patterns, and in some cases they even completely failed to diffuse. Why were protests against austerity so big in Southern European countries such as Spain and Greece and so negligible in Eastern European countries such as Latvia or Romania that also had tough austerity measures? Why did protests against ACTA explode in Eastern Europe, while protests against TTIP and CETA gained almost no traction there? Exploring examples of both successful and failed diffusion, the Introduction makes an appeal to explain diffusion patterns with the strategic agency of diffusers and adopters in different countries. Instead of focusing on bottom-up activists only, the Introduction also draws attention to the role of other players, such as trade unions, political parties, NGOs, mainstream media, and intellectuals, and their complex media practices.