About this Research Topic

Background

This Research Topic focuses on the democratic, economic, and policy shifts following popular uprisings in the European Neighborhood. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, this region has witnessed a dynamic interplay between authoritarian and democratic regimes, often catalyzed by mass popular uprisings. Despite the significance of these events, the literature exploring the relationship between such uprisings and subsequent democratization or re-authoritarization remains limited. Current research can be categorized into three main strands: democratic transition theory, statistical analyses of non-violent uprisings, and contentious politics drawing from social movement theory. These studies emphasize structural outcomes, mechanisms of democratization, and the role of social forces outside formal politics, respectively. However, there is a notable gap in understanding the micro-level dynamics that allow some democratic gains to be achieved while others are blocked, particularly in authoritarian or hybrid regimes. This research topic seeks to address this gap by exploring the conditions under which pro-democracy social forces succeed or fail in achieving policy gains.

This research topic aims to shift the analytical focus from top-down, institutional explanations of democratic transitions to the micro-level, bottom-up dynamics that occur during smaller episodes of popular uprisings. The objectives are threefold: to contribute to the understanding of the relationship between popular uprisings and democratization, to identify mechanisms that lead to small-scale democratic gains or blockages through comparative analysis, and to provide policy recommendations to the EU on effective EUDP policies under various configurations. By viewing popular uprisings as moments of high fluidity and desectoralization, the research seeks to uncover new configurations that facilitate democratic gains or create new blockages.

To gather further insights into the micro-level dynamics of democratic and policy shifts post-uprising, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Anti-corruption and accountability mobilization
• Independence of the judiciary mobilization
• Workers' rights mobilization
• Gender and sexual identity equality
• Feminization of contentious politics (gender lens)
• Media politics and media representation of bottom-up actors in popular uprising contexts

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: popular uprising, European Neighbourhood, democratization, grass rooth resitance, EU, EUDP

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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