Trajectories of outsiderness: a resource model of political participation in anti-establishment movements

Recent decades have witnessed the rise of antiestablishment movements, which often criticize the power elite’s inability or reluctance to represent ordinary citizens. This article explores the participation dynamics within such movements, focusing on the concept of outsiderness. Drawing from the resource model of political participation, we develop a multidimensional conceptualization of outsiderness, focusing on socioeconomic resources, political experience, antiestablishment attitudes, and preferred modes of political participation, exemplified through a comparative analysis of the trajectory of activists within the Five-Star Movement (5SM) in Italy and the Yellow Vests (YV) in France. By examining the articulation of these four dimen-sions, the research identifies four activist types in anti-establishment movements: conventional, marginal insiders, self-trained, and first-timers. Through individual trajectories, the article offers a nuanced understanding of the different motives for joining antiestablishment movements and the diverse profiles that coexist in these movements.