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In the study of protest a division of labour can be observed whereby sociological approaches excel in detailed case studies describing social movements as determined by their specific socio-political structures. Generalization is these studies' weak point. In social psychology, the individual level of analysis allows for investigation of motivational dynamics underlying protest participation but the socio-political structure is neglected. Despite studying the same protest, this division of labour created almost separate worlds by which the crucial interplay between structure and protest goes astray. However, precisely the connection between a socio-political structure that generates a demand for protest and the canalisation of this protest willingness into action by meso- or micro-mobilization is the most thorny but relatively underexposed issue in the protest literature. With the present study we aim to shed light on this structure/action nexus by presenting a model that crosses interdisciplinary boundaries connecting the micro level of motivational dynamics of individual protesters with the meso-level of social movements. To test the model a field study was conducted during two different demonstrations in two different town squares simultaneously organized by two social movements at exactly the same time against the same budget cuts proposed by the same government. But with one fundamental difference, the movements emphasized different aspects of the policies proposed by the government. This unique natural experiment revealed that power-oriented protest appeals to instrumental motives whereas value-oriented protest appeals to ideological motives. We discuss why and how characteristics of the mobilizing structures influence the motivational dynamics of individual protesters. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Societies change rapidly. In short, these changes constitute new communication technologies and a network society, both inseparably intertwined. These developments cause formal networks embodied by organisations to give way to more informal networks rooted in the personal lives of individuals. Indeed, both communication and networks are essential elements in contentious politics; therefore we assume that these societal changes also affects dynamics of protest. In this paper we discuss a study which investigates how 'old' formal organizational mobilization versus 'new' informal network mobilization differentially influence the who, the why and the how of protest participation. We collected data in a period of protest with both informal network mobilisation and formal organizational mobilisation for the same group (secondary school students) and the same issue (quality of education). The first results indicate that mobilization practices influence who participates and why. The youngsters in the spontaneous protests were younger, lower educated, and cynical about politics than the protesters in the official event. Moreover, the students in the spontaneous protests were frustrated about the amount of hours in school and identified with others involved, contrary to the students in the official event, for whom qualitative education, ideological concerns and social approval were stronger drives. It seems that an underrepresented group (young low educational level cynical about politics) is brought onto the streets by the 'new' mobilisation practice. This might imply that the 'new' mobilising for social change will bring a more diverse constituency on the streets, which may cause a 'normalization of the protester'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]