From Transnational Protest to Domestic Political Opportunities: Insights from the Debt Cancellation Campaign
Year: 2007
Type: article
Abstract: In recent years, a rapidly expanding literature has pointed to the emergence of cross-border activism, only rarely focusing on the mechanisms whereby a transnational agenda might lead to actual mobilization. By comparing national campaigns, one can gain a greater feel for domestic political settings and how congenial these are to the birth or spread of transnational protest. Drawing from the political opportunity approach, this article assesses the relative merit of explanations based on institutional access, changing political environments, past or concomitant social movement activity and multilevel political opportunities in accounting for differences in the scope, timing and dynamics of the Jubilee 2000 campaign in three creditor countries. While all four aspects of the political opportunity structure contributed to the scope of the domestic mobilizations, we find that only a combination of shifting domestic political environment and international events can explain their timing. The imprint of past or parallel campaigns further played a critical role in ensuring (or not) their longevity.
Source: Social movement studies
Author: Daphné Josselin
Institution: London School of Economics and Political Science
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2040888124