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This volume presents evidence-based research on citizens´ experiences and reactions to the Great Recession in Europe. How did European citizen experience and react to the crisis? How are the experiences of crisis and political responses socially differentiated? Are some social classes and more deprived groups particularly hard hit? How did the crisis impact on political choices? What types of political action did citizens engage in and why? What were the drivers of populist attitudes and protest participation? This country-based book explores these important dynamics as expressed in diverse national contexts, namely France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and UK. Each chapter focuses on one of these countries and employs data from the same survey fielded in 2015. This volume is of particular relevance for scholars, students, and practitioners interested in political sociology, comparative politics and European politics.

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1. Citizens and the Crisis: Perceptions, Experiences, and Responses to the Great Recession in Nine Democracies; Marco Giugni and Maria Grasso. PART I: CITIZENS, THE CRISIS, AND INSTITUTIONAL POLITICS .
2. Crisis, Politics and Partisanship in the UK; Luke Temple and Maria Grasso . 3. Economic Crisis, Populist Attitudes and the Birth of Podemos in Spain; Eva Anduiza, Marc Guinjoan, and Guillem Rico . 4. Unfinished Transformation or Neoliberal Economy: Exploring Legitimisation Divide in Poland; Maria Theiss and Anna Kurowska . PART II: CITIZENS, THE CRISIS, AND EXTRA-INSTITUTIONAL POLITICS .- 5. A Post-Contentious Turning Point for the Contentious French? Crisis without Protest in France; Didier Chabanet, Manio Cinalli, Anne Muxel, Steven Van Hauwaert, and Thierry Vedel . 6. Political Consumerism and Participation in Times of Crisis in Italy; Lorenzo Zamponi and Lorenzo Bosi . 7. Volunteering in Social Solidarity Networks during the Great Recession in Greece; Stefania Kalogeraki . PART III: THE SOCIAL BASES OF THE CRISIS . 8. An Island of Bliss - For Everyone? Perceptions and Experiences of the Crisis across Social Classes in Germany; J ohannes Kiess and Christian Lahusen . 9. The Silent Crisis: Perceptions and Experiences of the Economic Crisis in Switzerland; Marco Giugni and Maria Mexi . 10. Critical Men? Perceptions of Crisis without Crisis in Sweden; Katrin Uba . 11. Citizens and the Crisis: The Great Recession as Constraint and Opportunity; Marco Giugni and Maria Grasso.

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Marco Giugni is Professor at the Department of Political Science and International Relations and Director of the Institute of Citizenship Studies (InCite) at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. His research interests focus on social movements and protests, social exclusion and the participation of disadvantaged and discriminated groups, such as the unemployed and immigrants.

Maria T. Grasso is Professor at the Department of Politics, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom. She is the author of Generations, Political Participation and Social Change in Western Europe (2016) and co-editor of Austerity and Protest: Popular Contention in Times of Economic Crisis (with M. Giugni, 2015). Her research focuses on political sociology and political engagement.

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