Tessera

Davide Rocchetti

@daviderocchetti.bsky.social

Postdoc @project-protest.bsky.social at University of Bologna, Italy | Collective action, (counter-)protests and grassroots democratic defense

3 Posts134 Follower 146 Folgt

protest_project.eu @project-protest.bsky.social · last mo.

📅 Where to meet us: ECPR General Conference, Kraków, 8–11 Sept 2026. Andrea L. P. Pirro & Davide Rocchetti present on illiberal restrictions in Italy; Piotr Kocyba, Magdalena Muszel & Alicja Palęcka on protest politics under democratic backsliding in Poland. ecpr.eu/GeneralConfe...

ECPR General Conference 2026, Jagiellonian University, 8 – 11 September 2026

European Consortium for Political Research

ecpr.eu

Hans Jonas Gunzelmann @hajogu.bsky.social · last mo.

On Thursday (11.15am), I'm presenting ongoing work with @daviderocchetti.bsky.social and @chjncke.bsky.social: "Studying far-right protests in an era of normalization" In the panel "Dynamics of Far-Right Contention: Organisation, Diffusion, and Opposition" organized by @caterinafr.bsky.social

Studying far-right protests in an era of normalization: Toward a
comprehensive approach integrating actors and ideas
Davide Rocchetti, Hans Jonas Gunzelmann, Christin Jänicke
University of Bologna
WZB Berlin Social Science Center
Freie Universität Berlin
***First draft – please don’t circulate without the authors’ permission***
Abstract
The study of far-right protests has predominantly focused on actors: who is organizing and who
is participating in contentious events. However, this actor-centered approach faces three
conceptual and methodological problems. First, recent research on the normalization and
mainstreaming of the far right stresses that nativist and authoritarian ideas, discourses, and
practices expand well beyond specific far-right actors. Second, far-right actors may deliberately
hide their presence in protest crowds. Third, description biases in media failing to identify farright actors as such present a serious source problem for researchers studying protests. This
research note argues that these problems demand an analytical shift: from an exclusively actorcentered framework toward a comprehensive approach that integrates both the organizational
and the ideational dimensions of contention. We propose that far-right protest should be
defined and operationalized not only by who is participating but by what is articulated - the
nativist and authoritarian claims, frames, and issues raised in protest events. We illustrate our
argument with empirical observations from cases of far-right contention in Germany and Italy.
We conclude by identifying avenues for future research on the normalization of the far right in
contentious politics.
Keywords: Contentious Politics; Far Right; Social Movements; Mainstreaming;
Methodology; Protest Event Analysis; Ideational

protest_project.eu @project-protest.bsky.social · 4mo ago

📧 The 3rd ProTest newsletter is coming soon! Want updates on our research, publications, events, and upcoming activities? Subscribe via our website. We publish just twice a year, with concise project highlights and news. 🔗 protestproject.eu #ProTestProject #ProtestStudies

ProTest: Protest as a Democracy Test

protestproject.eu

Aurora Perego @auroraperego.bsky.social · 4mo ago

We are witnessing the rise of anti-trans politics across different contexts. Why? W/ Rylan Verlooy we find that anti-gender actors build trans people as a concrete embodied enemy, fostering their mobilization capacity. Open-access article in The Sociological Review 👉 urly.it/31fy3x #gendersky

Lennart Schürmann @lennartschuermann.bsky.social · 5mo ago

❗Confrontational tactics like street blockades and food attacks on art hurt activists' image, but not their cause. 📄 New paper out in Political Behavior (@polbehavior.bsky.social) w/ @dasalgon.bsky.social @sophiahunger.bsky.social & @swenhutter.bsky.social. 🧵1/7

Valeria Rainero @valeriarainero.bsky.social · 8mo ago

My first paper is out in #SociologicalScience! With Jörg Stolz and Ruud Luijkx, we found robust evidence of ideological #bias in #secularization research: researchers' own religiosity is correlated with their probability of finding evidence of religious decline in their publications. Read more: 👇

Sociological Science@sociologicalsci.bsky.social · 8mo ago

NEW: Valeria Rainero, Jörg Stolz, Ruud Luijkx, The Faith Factor. How Scholars’ Religiosity Biases Research Findings on Secularization sociologicalscience.com/articles-v13...

Aurora Perego @auroraperego.bsky.social · 11mo ago

📢 Thrilled to share a new publication with elena pavan & @matteoscianna.bsky.social Building on our research in @ccindle-eu.bsky.social, we examine the foundations of Italian anti-gender rethoric on social media Open access 👉 www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.3270/... #gendersky #academicsky #polisky

Valeria Ferraretto @vferraretto.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Not only an article of interest in its field, but also a nice application of a method - event history analysis - that is used in other disciplinary sub-fields. Great things always occur when crossing disciplinary boundaries!

Davide Rocchetti@daviderocchetti.bsky.social · 11mo ago

New publication! The far right is advancing everywhere, with a momentum that seems almost inevitable. But what about the efforts to counter it? In our article, with Katia Pilati, we explore the "Dynamics of protests and counterprotests around far-right politics."

Davide Rocchetti @daviderocchetti.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Hans Jonas Gunzelmann @hajogu.bsky.social · 12mo ago

💫New paper out with @chjncke.bsky.social in @europeansocieties.bsky.social: 📝"Far-right contention in civil society: Multiple lenses on action repertoires, actors, and targets" 🧵A short thread about the paper:

Title and Abstract of the paper "Far-right contention in civil society: multiple lenses on action repertoires, actors, and targets".
Authors: Hans Jonas Gunzelmann, Christin Jänicke

Abstract:

Over the past decade, the far right has been on the rise in civil societies across Europe. Civil society organizations have been challenged by the far right in governments, political parties, and within their own ranks. However, there is little systematic research on how the far right stirs conflict within civil society. Civil society research has tended to ignore ‘uncivil’ society and has instead focused on social capital and cohesion. Research on the noninstitutional side of the far right has been growing but has largely neglected the consequences for established civil society organizations and their members. This article addresses these blind spots by providing a conceptual framework and a methodology for studying the far right in civil society, which is applied to a case study. First, we construct a conceptual framework that adapts the contentious politics paradigm to the study of civil society. We delineate far-right contention within civil society and construct typologies of the action repertoires, actors, and targets. Second, we develop a methodology that combines different lenses to expand our view on far-right contention in civil society. We propose a mixed-methods research design for mapping far-right contentious events. Third, we apply our conceptual framework and methodology to the case of Germany by empirically mapping the action repertoires, actors and targets. Our findings fundamentally shift the scholarly understanding of the far right in civil society: We find that far-right contention in civil society goes well beyond adversarial actions by far-right actors. This has important implications for researchers and practitioners.

Daniel Saldivia Gonzatti @dasalgon.bsky.social · 12mo ago

"Mainstream parties are increasingly allowing the far right to set the agenda" - for the @theguardian.com, @ashifakassam.bsky.social summed up our study. @tevoelker.bsky.social and I answered some questions to put our results into context. Give it a read! Study: bit.ly/4hhRFUN

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 12mo ago

German far right setting agenda as opponents amplify its ideas, study finds

Davide Rocchetti @daviderocchetti.bsky.social · last yr.

phd defended :) grateful for all the support along the way ❤️

Aurora Perego @auroraperego.bsky.social · last yr.

📣 Excited to contribute to the special issue New Perspectives on Gender and Mobilization @ejpgjournal.bsky.social With Elena Pavan, we examine how LGBTQIA+ collaborative networks are built through shared framing strategies Thanks to editors Maria Grasso & Marco Giugni! 👉 doi.org/10.1332/2515...

protest_project.eu @project-protest.bsky.social · 2y ago

The project's kick off meeting is taking place on April 7-8 2025 in Budapest. The event had the project members reflect and discuss the dedemocratisation processes and protests in select countries in Europe. The discussions of the kick-off meeting will lay foundations this exciting research project.

Cristina Mazzero @mazzerocri.bsky.social · 2y ago

🚨 Excited to share my first article (Open Access) in the Journal of Refugee Studies on the role of universities in Belarusian student displacement. Yet, it’s a bittersweet joy, as many Belarusians remain in prison or exile. More below 👇 doi.org/10.1093/jrs/...

Higher education in displacement: empowering pathway or double-edged institution? Insights from Belarusian students’ experiences

Abstract. Bridging forced migration and higher education (HE) studies, this study explores how HE affects the process of displacement (processual dimension

doi.org

Meret Stephan @meretstephan.bsky.social · 2y ago

📢 New @wzb.bsky.social Working Paper w/ @lennartschuermann.bsky.social: “How Anti-Racist Protests Influence Pro- and Anti-Migration Voting Behavior: Evidence from National and European Elections” ❗️Main finding: Anti-racist protests can change voting behavior towards a more inclusive society 🧵1/8