This research strand will investigate different forms of political contention and collective action emerged at the transnational level in the field of migration and refugee rights in Europe. Specifically, it will explore solidarity initiatives and grassroots collective action in support of migrants along the Western Balkans migratory route. The research will elucidate the transnational dimension of this type of activism and examine when and how transnational campaigns were organized to hold the EU and domestic states accountable on the field of migration and refugee rights. Theoretically, it will bring into dialog social movement literature with citizenship, migration and border studies, to provide new theoretical insights on how social movements organize at the local and transnational level under difficult circumstances. It explores also the emotional dynamics beneath solidarity activism, complementing the contentious politics perspective from the vantage point of emotions.

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