ABSTRACT
The chapter begins with a critical reading of the post-crisis economic governance regime in the EU, drawing on a wide-range of contemporary writings in political economy. It provides a comprehensive account of austerity measures across the EU, showing that they took place not only in the Eurozone, most often explored in academic texts, but also in Eastern European countries. The chapter then proceeds to outline the diffusion of protests against austerity in Southern Europe, where it was led by bottom-up activist experimenting with innovative digital practices to actively diffuse protest frames and repertoires. I draw attention also to the role of trade unions, political parties, and intellectuals as key for spreading protest. Next, the chapter moves on to Eastern Europe and shows that even though countries such as Bulgaria and Romania experienced substantial austerity cuts, protests there focused mostly on corruption and demands for democratic deepening. There was a conspicuous absence of critique to austerity from a left-wing perspective. Countries such as Latvia and Lithuania, on the other hand, did not have any protest at all. These cases of failed diffusion of anti-austerity protest can be largely explained with the dearth of political players who could mobilize on the issue and popularize it. Yet, such players started slowly appearing as a result of diffusion following the eventful wave of protests. The chapter ends with several practical takeaways for activists, including the importance of reaching out to players they do not already have connections with. There is much unexplored potential for building connections between activists in Southern Europe and Eastern Europe and between activists from different Eastern European countries as well.
