dr. Ruud Wouters

Bio

I am a political sociologist interested in social and political change. Specifically, I study how social movements succeed or fail in winning wanted outcomes; from mobilizing protest participants, over media attention and public opinion support, to policy change. I defended my phd in 2013, was a postdoctoral researcher of the FWO Flanders (2014-17), a visiting scholar at Stanford University (2015-16), worked at the UvA (2017-19), the 'Civil Society Innovation Flanders'-project (2019) and as a senior researcher for research group Media, Movements & Politics (University of Antwerp). My current research project PROVOKE focuses on the responsiveness to street protest by politicians on social media.

Courses

• Politics and Society in Comparative Pers
• Research Project PM Sociology Fall
• Globalization and Social Risks

Recent publications

1. "Indoctrinated by the left!." - How politicians respond to street pro…

   Staes, L., & Wouters, R. (2023). "Indoctrinated by the left!.": How politicians respond to street protest on social media. New Media & Society. Advance online publication.

2. Making their mark? - How protest sparks, surfs, and sustains media is…

   Wouters, R., & Lefevere, J. (2023). Making their mark? How protest sparks, surfs, and sustains media issue attention. Political Communication, 40(5), 615-632.

3. Mixing with the Crowd - How Mobilization Affects Diversity in Demonst…

   de Moor, J., & Wouters, R. (2022). Mixing with the Crowd: How Mobilization Affects Diversity in Demonstrations. Mobilization, 27(3), 257-275.

4. Mobilizing Usual versus Unusual Protesters. - Information Channel Ope…

   Walgrave, S., Wouters, R., & Ketelaars, P. (2022). Mobilizing Usual versus Unusual Protesters. Information Channel Openness and Persuasion Tie Strength in 71 Demonstrations in Nine Countries. Sociological Quarterly, 63(1), 48-73.

5. Word on the street - politicians, mediatized street protest, and resp…

   Wouters, R., Staes, L., & Van Aelst, P. (2022). Word on the street: politicians, mediatized street protest, and responsiveness on social media. Information, communication & society. Advance online publication.