摘要：This essay examines the large-scale social protests surrounding the 2007 G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany. Based on a discussion of social protests surrounding the 2007 G8 summit with respect to their goals and objectives and the exploration if and how they are related to public policy changes, it is argued that contextual factors surrounding social movements’ intents to change public policy outweigh content-related issues on the activists’. A document analysis of the summit and its environment leads to the following conclusions: (1) The government will evaluate how to deal with social protest depending on factors not directly related to social protest. (2) The logistics of the G8 summits are highly influenced by the anticipated protests. (3) Selective media coverage and the self-representation of assorted movements minimize the movements’ struggles. (4) Organized social movements intend to increase the salience on issues that differ from the objectives of the G8 summit participants. (5) Violence by splinter groups justifies violent countermoves by authorities against larger groups of social protesters. (6) By using the ‘instantaneity of the internet’ as a platform, social movements can act as educators and address their issues and objectives in an in-depth manner and reach a virtually unlimited audience. (7) Contextual factors determine the extent to which social movements act.
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