From the streets to the web: communication and democratic participation in the case of the ‘Sardines’

The Sardines “movement” emerged in the fall of 2019, giving itself mainly the purpose of countering the possible assertion of the right-wingers in the regional elections of 2020. The political discourse developed by this mobilization was characterized in an anti-populist and anti-fascist sense. The anti-populist register constituted the main mode of self-representation of Sardines. The political discourse of this mobilization is thus presented as, in some ways unprecedented, for an extra-institutional actor. The article addresses the following issues: a) the formal adequacy of the category of “social movement” to define Sardines; b) their constitution and development from November 2019 to November 2020; c) the key elements of their political discourse; d) the change in strategies and repertoires following the onset of the pandemic.