Thesis Defense by Arthur GROZ
Mr. Arthur GROZ defended his dissertation, titled “The Institutionalization of New Protest Parties in Southern Europe Through the Lens of Activist Careers: A Comparative Study of Syriza, Podemos, and La France Insoumise,” on Wednesday, June 10, 2020, at 2:00 p.m.
Summary:
In the wake of the 2007–2008 financial crisis, new political parties emerged, particularly in the hardest-hit countries of Southern Europe, such as Podemos, Syriza, and La France Insoumise. Advocating a genuine program of social transformation, much like traditional protest parties, these anti-austerity organizations would soon find themselves in power (in Greece and Spain) and undergo a process of institutionalization as they became established in the national political landscape—a phenomenon already familiar to governing parties.
However, while the profile of the voters for these new protest parties has been studied, the dynamics of their institutionalization have not really been the subject of comparative sociological research.
Thus, based on three field studies—involving interviews and direct observation—conducted among activists from these new protest parties in Barcelona (Podemos), Athens (Syriza), and Montpellier (La France Insoumise), it becomes possible to analyze and compare the institutionalization process of these three parties through the lens of activists’ careers.
By drawing on both the tools of the sociology of political engagement and those of the sociology of partisan organizations, we can demonstrate that institutionalization serves to sort activists: while some, endowed with significant social and cultural capital, become professionalized and rapidly climb the ranks of the party hierarchy, others, whose resources are more limited, struggle to find a role within these parties and, in the absence of any reward for their commitment, may gradually be led to leave them.
Under these circumstances, these new partisan organizations challenge existing classifications of political parties, as they combine the high turnover of activists typical of protest parties with the professionalization of leadership found in governing parties. This potentially points to a new partisan model: the “professionalized protest party.”