The Rise of Social Movements in Romania
The Rise of Social Movements in Romania

Summary/Abstract: Social movements have increased during the last decade all over the world, but mostly in Europe. In relation to the history of this phenomenon in the region, nowadays it has become an ordinary behavior to participate in a protest in the majority of EU-states, Romania included. Several issues regarding the rise of social movements are subject of interest in the field of social science: what determines people to participate in a protest, what are their expectations and what is the result of the social movements? Are the most recent protests in Romania a sign of political participation? Through social media, antigovernment messages expanded quickly and numerous Romanians gathered in Victoriei Square to demonstrate against an emergency ordinance considered by many of the protestors to undermine the fight against corruption. Since then, two rounds of elections took place (presidential and European elections) and a change of power. Following a noconfidence motion that brought down the Social Democratic Government, the National Liberal Party formed a center-right minority government, but shortly after, it was dismissed as a result of a vote of no confidence. The study of social movements in Romania is important to have a comprehensive approach about this phenomenon: is there a link between social movements and social media use, what triggers the people to mobilize and for what reason some stimuli have a greater impact than others on the individuals so that people act together for a common purpose such as social change.

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