Transnational citizen mobilisation: new forms of political activism

How important are citizen protests in domestic and international politics? Can common citizens really influence in geopolitical issues and upset the existing balances in and among sovereign states? Has citizens’ role and power changed in the global world? What is the effect of the growing global interconnection on social movements and on the way they interrelate? These are some of the questions posed by this issue of the Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internacionals, through eight research works that examine cases from Central Africa, South America, Europe, Mesoamerica and Maghreb and the Middle East- Despite the plurality of issues tackled, all cases are related either to the fight for the recognition of civil and democratic rights of the general population, or with the defence and claim for the rights of a certain group, more specifically, women, workers and indigenous peoples. The analysis shows that, since a decade ago –due to the development of the new information and communication technologies and the facilities in international transport–, it is essential to take into account both the episodes of citizen mobilisation and the action of civil society organisations networks, in order to understand the evolution of the global political agenda, as well as the world geopolitical balances.

ISSN: 1133-6595 (printed edition) / ISSN: 2013-035X (online edition)