@ivodinev
Multi-Method Data Laboratory | Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS) @zois.bsky.social Party systems, protest and social movements, trade unions in #EasternEurope. Triangulation of methods and data. https://ivaylodinev.com
“Serbia’s youth are protesting with a strategy that the West has almost forgotten.”
I said this in an interview with the German outlet Krautreporter.
More and more, I am convinced that the rest of the world has much to learn from the civic energy and democratic resilience of Balkan societies.
It will be a pleasure to discuss the protest waves in the Balkan region at the American University in Bulgaria.
Our open-access article in @socmovstudies.bsky.social presents new dataset of workers’ protests in Europe since Covid-19.
We find:
• High levels of protest
• Two alliance patterns
• Diverging protest repertoires
• Cross-national differences in public vs. private sector mobilization
2025 was a year of the protest in the Balkans. From Serbia to Greece, N Macedonia and Bulgaria, to name the most massive waves. A short summary in Greek.
Thursday the 5th of February at 18:00
Registration: jean-michel.de.waele@ulb.be
Some Gen Z protest waves fail to translate into political outcomes, while others succeed.
Bulgaria’s ended with a government resignation in under 3 weeks.
I discuss the key factors that made this protest a success story: from organisation to political opportunity.
Spotlight for @zois.bsky.social
What is going on in Bulgaria? An in-depth article by the independent Spanish media CTXT, including an interview with me, on the mass protests, the role of Gen Z, and the current political crisis.
1. The protests focused on rejecting arrogant political behavior and the theft of public money through corruption schemes. This united a highly fragmented opposition and citizens across income levels, ethnicities, and religions. Protests spread nationwide and to the Bulgarian diaspora across Europe.
5. Most participants rejected aggressive or violent tactics, despite the presence of radical groups. Nonviolent resistance proved effective — though protests may continue or escalate into civil disobedience if systemic change does not follow.
4. Instead of exhausting daily protests or university occupations, mobilisation happened once per week. Within two weeks, turnout grew from around 100,000 to 200,000–300,000. 3 to 5% of the general population!
3. The opposition handled logistics (permits, security, stage, speakers), but the protests avoided a party image: no party flags or slogans. The stage remained open to speakers from diverse social groups.
2. TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook became the main tools of mobilisation. Influencers amplified calls to protest, making participation socially attractive — protesting became “cool.”
What just happened in Bulgaria and what other countries can learn from it:
In just two weeks, mass protests forced the government to resign. Five key strategies👇
Mass protests in Bulgaria forced a government resignation, showing their effectiveness. Yet resignations often act as safety valves, letting ruling parties to regroup. Since 1989, this has locked the country in a recurring cycle of crisis and protest without breaking underlying power structures.
Tonight, Sofia is seeing its largest demonstration since 1990. Rallies are unfolding across the country against state capture and corruption, demanding the government’s resignation and new elections.
Reach: this protest stands out through the strong participation of the youngest (16 to 25). For the first time, a large number of voices from the Turkish and Roma minorities have also become visible, openly speaking out against the oligarchic elites who have long instrumentalized their communities.
Timing: While Facebook-driven protests needed weeks to gain momentum—usually after being picked up by national TV—TikTok turns an issue viral within a few hours.
Scale: Earlier protest waves in Bulgaria often became enclosed within specific social groups, mostly the urban middle-classes. Now TikTok spreads the mobilisation across people with different incomes, views, and ethnic backgrounds.
Protests after 2008 were primarily organised on Facebook. In other countries, Twitter also played a key role. Today, the main arena is TikTok. This changes the scale, timing, and reach of mobilization.
TikTok has changed the game. 100,000–150,000 people from diverse backgrounds protested in Bulgaria mobilised mainly through TikTok by influencers, activists, and the opposition. The platform has become a central engine for rapid mass mobilisation. What does this mean for social movement studies?
The law of Bulgarian democracy:
the arrogance of the political class is restrained only by mass protest. At least 50,000 people marched yesterday in Sofia, with several thousand more in cities across the country.
Democracy without protests? In parts of Europe, that’s unimaginable. Protest is not an isolated episode – it has shaped the political order for almost four decades through recurring cycles of crisis, mobilization, and renewal.
I call it protest democracy.
Read it here in @zois.bsky.social Spotlight👇
Our new article is out in Social Movement Studies!
We compare workers’ protests in Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy & Romania – from protest tactics to building alliances after Covid-19. It presents the first comparative data of workers’ protests since Covid-19, based on local sources.
Discuss Data in Bremen and Göttingen provides a ‘safe haven’ for research data on and from the countries in Eastern Europe thus establishing an interactive, community-led platform for like-minded researchers. Eduard Klein tells more about Discuss Data’s history and activities.
In the last issue of the Swiss Forum RGOW – Religion & Society in East and West, I examine the repeating cycles of anti-corruption protests in Bulgaria (available in German).
In 2013, we rose against the oligarchic model in Bulgaria and demanded morality in politics — what dreamers we were! For months we occupied universities and filled the streets. The Balkans carry a long tradition of student movements. An interview for the Bulgarian National Radio.
The protests against the way the judicial system is being weaponised are a part of a new protest cycle – but won’t be the peak of it,” predicted Ivaylo Dinev, a researcher at the Centre for East European and International Studies in Berlin.
Gave an interview to Bulgarian National Radio on the ongoing anti-corruption protests and the previous in 2013 and 2020.
In summary: Bulgaria is stuck in a repeating cycle—political crisis, protests, new formations, new crisis, more protests. This has continued since the transition.
