Historical processes and new-left movements: exploring the divergent paths of protest politics in Southeast Europe

ABSTRACT This article compares the trajectories of new-left movements in two post-socialist, South east European states, Bulgaria and Slovenia. In arguing that protest politics is deeply embedded in the historical and temporal processes of the national context, the study takes a historical perspective on the analysis of political transformations since the late period of socialism and the development of protest traditions. This long-term reconstruction suggests that the emergence of a strong new-left movement in Slovenia was facilitated by two relational processes: the growing political polarization within the left and the political identification of influential protest actors with left-wing ideas and frames.