When the "Old" Social Movements Become Relevant in the New Wave of 2011occupy Protests

The Tunisian General Trade Union (UGTT) won the 2016 Nobel prize for peace in recognition of its contribution to democracy in Tunisia. Indeed the UGTT was one of the most salient trade unions supporting the Tunisian Jasmine revolution. The success of removal of the dictator ignited the imagination of protestors all over the world, and 2011 became the year of global protest against inequality, and against the structural corruption of political parties that facilitate the anti-democratic imposition of neoliberal and austerity policies. However not everywhere the trade unions declared general strikes, or actively supported the 2011 cycle of protest. Moreover, the full success of removing the ruling party from government was also an unusual outcome, despite the fact that in every case where occupy protests had massive impact in the public discourse it also reshaped the political arena.

The paper will compare different levels of trade union participation during the new cycle of protests in 2011 and their impact in the political arena. It will argue that in cases of full integration of the trade unions in the struggle, including strikes, the government was removed in next elections by parties that supported the protests (Tunisia, Greece, Chile). In cases with weak support of trade unions, the reshaping of the political arena didn't lead to the establishment of governments representing the protests, and in some cases it led to reactive Governments or stalemates (Spain, Egypt, Israel, the US, Turkey, Brazil). The paper suggests two explanations to the distinct degrees of trade union integration in the protests: a. the level of union embeddedness in political parties; and b. the reluctance of activists to build coalitions with too embedded unions, due to their interest to frame the protests as the "people" against the elites.