Since 2011, countries as different as Spain and Romania have seen their greatest social mobilizations in a generation. Targeting austerity and the perceived decay of liberal democracy, these forms of contentious politics challenged conventional assumptions about how citizens relate to parliamentary democracy and Europe’s varieties of capitalism.  It is now time to take stock of the actual effects of these movements: Have they changed politics as usual in Europe or were they mere flashes in the pan with meager political effects? This panel attempts to address this question by bringing together sociologists, historians and political scientists interested in European contentious politics. Their contributions will address three related topics. Some panelists will examine how these movements affected politics directly through the formation of new political parties that changed the domestic political status quo. Others will focus on more indirect effects, such as changes in mainstream political discourses or the formation of alterative civic spheres. Others still will try to execute comparative research in the attempt to identify national and/regional patterns in similarities and differences between such movements. The case studies will focus on Southern and South-Eastern Europe.