Here you will find English language posts about the activities of the ipb and its members, such as information on new projects and events, comments on current (protest) events.
The program for ipb’s 2026 annual conference is now out and registration is open. Learn more about the conference and join our discussion on “Brain-Twisters of Social Movement Reserach” on 5-6 October 2026 in Berlin.
On 5 & 6 October, the ipb will hold their annual conference at Berlin’s Humboldt University. In an experimental format we will organize our discussions along central questions of social movement research. Get involved, send your answer or add your question by April 17th.
Seit 2025 wird der AK als DFG-Netzwerk „Poststrukturalistische Protest- und Bewegungsforschung: Ein multiperspektivischer Analyseansatz (POPMAP)“ fortgeführt. In diesem DFG-Netzwerk arbeiten Forscherinnen aus verschiedenen Disziplinen, die alle das gemeinsame Ziel haben, soziale Bewegungen besser zu verstehen – besser auch in der Hoffnung, die Akteurinnen progressiver Bewegungen mit unseren Erkenntnissen zu unterstützen.
The call is addressed to researchers working in the field of protest and social movement research. The ipb colloquium offers an open space for the presentation of work in progress, the discussion of new ideas, and interdisciplinary exchange.
On November 29, 2024, the working group “Social Movements and Police” organized a workshop in Vienna on “Protest Policing in Hybrid Publics. Third Parties in Relation to Protest and Policing”. International researchers gathered to examine this relationship in more detail.
The Institute for the Study of Protest and Social Movements has now systematically processed and harmonized a collection of 31 protest surveys from Germany and Poland. Through GESIS they are now made available to other researchers and the general public. Sebastian Haunss, Piotr Kocyba, Pascal Siegers, Marvin Stein, and Simon Teune report on the project.
The program for our annual conference at the University of Bremen is out now. We are looking forward to 84 papers, 22 Panels, one roundtable discussion and a keynote by Knud Andresen. Registration is now open to everyone.
Valeria Vegh Weis will kick off the event series “ipb talk” with a presentation of the book “Criminalization of Activism”. The book draws on a multiplicity of perspectives and case studies from the Global South and Global North to show how protest has been subject to processes of criminalization over time.
[ipb beobachtet] Die Proteste der letzten Generation haben die öffentliche Debatte über die Legitimität von Sitzblockaden wieder aufflammen lassen. Lena Herbers fasst die theoretische und rechtliche Debatte zu zivilem Ungehorsam zusammen.
Die diesjährige Jahrestagung des ipb widmet sich in Kooperation mit dem Zentrum für interdisziplinäre Friedens- und Konfliktforschung der Freien Universität Berlin den Schnittstellen von Friedens- und Konfliktforschung und Bewegungsforschung.
These protests are primarily organised by local residents, housing movements, environmental NGOs and workers’ organisations. Their concerns go beyond simple opposition to tourism itself. Rather, protesters are questioning the distribution of tourism’s costs and benefits. While tourism generates revenue and employment, many residents feel that the gains are unevenly distributed, while the burdens fall disproportionately on local communities.
Malta Independent, 31.3.2026: What Europe’s overtourism protests are really telling us — and why Malta should pay attention
Michael Briguglio (University of Malta)
This authoritarian masculinism – experts call it “protective masculinity” – requires a counterpoint: a weak woman worthy of protection who, in traditional patriarchal and heterosexual relationships, serves the man and of course can be sexually subjugated by him. Those of a right-wing authoritarian leaning thus seek to mobilise opposition to the neoliberal notion of women taking up employment, propagating instead traditional roles such as mother and housewife. It’s not only men who do this: female influencers who dub themselves “tradwives” (short for “traditional wife”) make their money from this latter model.
Development and Cooperation, 30.12.2025: The Chainsaw Men
Birgit Sauer (Uni Wien)
The leading figures [of Generation Deutschland] come from a far-right milieu, in which former activists from the Identitarian Movement, fraternities, neo-Nazism and ethno-nationalist groups come together.
France24, 29.11.2025: German far right founds new youth wing in face of protests
Fabian Virchow (HS Düsseldorf)
“Whether you’re talking about the Communists, Yabloko or [the unregistered] Rassvet, at least they exist and they can do something,” Dollbaum told The Moscow Times. “Let’s take the Feminist Anti-War Resistance, one of the most courageous and numerous activist groups that are…very principally against the war and the regime. They [operate in Russia] anonymously…but they can’t currently be a real political actor,” he added.
The Moscow Times, 28.4.2025: Explainer: Does Russia’s ‘Systemic Opposition’ Still Exist?
Jan Matti Dollbaum (Université de Fribourg)
If climate activists foster alliances with trade unions and progressive corporations, a conservative-led government will have to deal with a powerful narrative.
dw.com, 13.2.2025: What’s next for Germany’s climate movement?
Simon Teune (FU Berlin)
A study of nonviolent action by Dalilah Shemia-Goeke finds that multinational corporations are deeply entangled with states in reciprocal relationships of dependence. While this puts constraints on the ability of states to regulate corporations, power imbalances between business and society can be redressed when people withdraw the support on which corporate entities depend.
Salon.com, 29.9.2024: Can we still prevent global catastrophe? Yes — by fighting corporate power, now
Dalilah Shemia-Goeke (Uni Marburg)