ProTest

Protest as a Democracy Test: Protest Culture under Transformation and as a Transformative Power

Overview

Corvinus University of Budapest is an associate partner in the nine-member international consortium, and the Hungarian implementation is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Innovation from the Governmental Interest Fund of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund.   

Project Objectives

The project aims at the historical, politological and sociological analysis of protest culture, regardless of political affiliation, in the European Union and the Eastern Partnership countries. The countries studied include Spain, Portugal, Georgia, Poland, Moldova, Romania, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Ukraine and Hungary.

The research examines how democratic changes affect the culture of protest and their impact on the state of democracy, particularly in terms of citizens’ political participation. The project takes into account direct (legislation, fines) and indirect (discursive manipulation) measures applied to protests. Its focus is on the strategies of protesters, the reactions of the authorities, the role of the media and the protest practices of Generations X, Y and Z. The project aims to contribute to scientific innovation and to strengthen the deliberative aspects of democracy by disseminating its results widely.

Funding Details

Funding Period: 1 January 2025 – 31 December 2027
Total Budget: EUR 2,999,467.50
Corvinus Share: EUR 260,012.50 / HUF 100,234,819
Type of Project: Horizon Europe – Research and Innovation Action

Consortium Partners

1. Lunds Universitet (Coordinator) – Sweden

2. Universidad Antonio de Nebrija – Spain

3. National School of Political Studies and Public Administration – Romania

4. Center for Social Sciences – Georgia

5. Centro de Estudos Sociais – Portugal

6. Forschungsstelle Osteuropa – Germany

7. Università di Bologna – Italy

8. Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk – Poland

9. Corvinus University of Budapest – Hungary (Associate Partner)

Hungarian Research Team

Department of Sociology – Corvinus University of Budapest

Attila Melegh, Principal Investigator, Professor
Beáta Nagy, Professor
Réka Várnagy, Associate Professor
Miklós Hajdu, Assistant Professor
Noémi Katona, Assistant Professor
Zoltán Nikolas Dujisin-Muharay, Assistant Professor
Jacob Richard Thomas, Assistant Professor
Fikadu Ayanie, PhD Student

More Information

Official website: https://www.protestproject.eu

Corvinus Joins Interdisciplinary EU Research Spanning Ten Countries, Embracing Methodological Pluralism

An interdisciplinary research project employing methodological pluralism is being launched across ten European countries under Cluster 2 – Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society – of the Horizon Europe framework. The initiative involves the participation of Corvinus University of Budapest, alongside prestigious institutions such as Lund University (Sweden), Antonio de Nebrija University (Spain), the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA, Romania), the Center for Social Sciences (Georgia), the Centro de Estudos Sociais (Portugal), the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (Germany), the University of Bologna (Italy), and the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The project is supported by Hungary’s Ministry of Culture and Innovation.