https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764218768845 American Behavioral Scientist 2018, Vol. 62(6) 733–738 © 2018 SAGE Publications Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0002764218768845 journals.sagepub.com/home/abs Introduction Alternative Action Organizations During Hard Economic Times: A Comparative European Perspective Maria Kousis 1 , Stefania Kalogeraki 1 , and Camilo Cristancho 2 Abstract The aim of this Special Issue is to offer new systematic analyses on European alternative (non)economic solidarity practices since the global financial crisis, that have attracted limited media and scholarly attention. Its seven articles are devoted to multidimensional analyses providing complementary perspectives on alternative action organizations across Europe and rest on Action Organization Analysis, a new hubs- website approach extending Protest Event Analysis. They deal with the emergence and continuity of alternative action organizations in different contexts, while they focus on its multiple tactics and the ways in which they address crisis-related needs under diverse conditions of vulnerability and hardship. Our contributions rely on original data produced in the context of Work Package 6 of the EU-funded FP7 project “Living with Hard Times: How Citizens React to Economic Crises and Their Social and Political Consequences” (LIVEWHAT), conducted across nine European countries. Keywords alternative action organizations, European countries, economic crisis, collective action, solidarity actions, organizational websites, protest event analysis, action organization analysis Introduction The recent global financial crisis and subsequent austerity policies have had considerable impact on millions of European Union (EU) citizens due to increases in unemployment, 1 University of Crete, Rethymnon, Greece 2 Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain Corresponding Author: Maria Kousis, University of Crete Research Center for the Humanities, the Social and Education Sciences, Gallos Campus, Rethymnon, 74100 Greece. Email: kousis.m@uoc.gr 768845ABS 62 6 10.1177/0002764218768845American Behavioral ScientistKousis et al. research-article 2018