Cesar Guzman-Concha studied sociology and history in the University of Chile (Santiago). He earned a PhD in Sociology from the University of Barcelona, and has been visiting PhD student in the Universities of Milano-Bicocca and Humboldt Universität (Berlin).

At the moment, he is also affiliated to the Department of Political Science of Radboud University Nijmegen (The Netherlands).

He has received research grants from the European Commission (Alßan programme), the DAAD, and the research agency of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Spain), among other institutions.

Focus of Research

Social movements, protest, political parties, political sociology.

 

Postdoctoral Research Project

Working title of research project:

New red-parties. A comparison of extreme left political parties in Western Europe.

 

What does explain the differences in strength of extreme-left political parties in advanced countries? This research aims at explaining the variation in the relative strength of the parties of the radical left in Western Europe. The fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, combined with the growing prominence of postmaterialist preferences in advanced countries, led many analysts to believe that radical left parties were condemned to disappear. However, recent events have proved wrong this prediction. Indeed, new-Red parties have prospered in Greece (SYRIZA), Portugal (Left Bloc) and Denmark (Socialist Party) in last decades. In The Netherlands, a former Maoist-inspired group (the Socialist Party, SP) has substantially improved its electoral performance. Recent surveys show that the SP might surpass the PvdA as main party of the Dutch Left. In Germany, Die Linke is consolidated as large party in the East and has settled in some enclaves in the West (e.g. Hesse, Hamburg, or Bremen). In contrast, in countries such as Spain (Izquierda Unida) and Italy (Rifundazione, PdCI), the radical left has seen reduced its electoral quota to historic lows. In other countries (UK, Belgium, Austria), these parties have been unable to enter the parliament or become a partner in coalition governments, remaining in the periphery of the political system. These examples show that radical left parties are not limited to southern European countries, or confined to former socialist regions. In fact, there is considerable variation in the strength and prospects of these parties across the area. This project uses secondary data of 17 Western European countries, and analyzes it through social sciences’ methods of comparative analysis (QCA, historical comparative analysis). The study tests the hypotheses suggested in previous studies. To explain the diversity of cases the study puts forward a socio-historic approach grounded on political sociology perspectives.

 

Journal Articles (peer reviewed)

2012. Guzmán-Concha C. The student’s rebellion in Chile. Occupy protest or classic social movement? Social Movement Studies 11 (3).

 

Book Reviews.

 

2012. Guzmán-Concha C. Book review: Jackie Smith, 2008. “Social Movements for Global Democracy”. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.  International Sociology Review of Books (forthcoming)

2011. Guzmán-Concha, C. Book review: Lynn Owens, 2009. “Cracking Under Pressure. Narrating the decline of the Amsterdam squatters' movement”. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. Journal for the study of radicalism, 5(2): 144-146

 

Journal Articles (non-peer-reviewed) (recent)

 

2009. Ciccia, R. & Guzman-Concha, C. “Empleo y actividad económica en jóvenes: tendencias actuales en las economías avanzadas de Europa occidental”, Revista Observatorio de Juventud 21 (6): pp. 9-23 (Chile). ISSN: 0718-3119.

 

Contributions to Edited Volumes

 

2004. Guzmán-Concha, C. “La huelga y el conflicto laboral en Chile”, Rolando Álvarez and Antonio Aravena (Eds.), Los trabajadores y la nueva cuestión social: repensando la realidad laboral y sindical en Chile, ISBN: 956-7074-05-4, ICAL, Santiago, Chile. Pp. 157-191

2004. Guzmán-Concha, C. “Sindicalismo, neo-corporativismo y transformismo en América Latina”, in Sociedad, Trabajo y Neoliberalismo, ISBN: 956-7074-04-6, ICAL, Santiago, Chile: 192-219

 

Conference papers (2011-2010)

 

18th International Conference of Europeanists. June 2011, Barcelona, Spain. Paper: “Rethinking leftist political radicalism in Western Europe: the social centers’ movement in comparative perspective”

7th Conference of social sciences, Central European University. May 2011, Budapest. Paper: “Rethinking leftist political radicalism in Western Europe: the social centers’ movement in comparative perspective”

24th Conference, Italian Political Science Association. Sept 2010, University IUAV Venice. Paper: “Explaining the dissimilar influence of the squatters movement in Western European cities”.