European protest movements of the eighties are analyzed and compared to the dissident movements of the sixties and seventies. The focus is on the peace, anti-nuclear, and ecology movements, the drive for autonomous youth centers in Switzerland, racial disturbances in Britain, and unrest among the urban squatters in the German Federal Republic. Six dimensions of each of these social rebellions are analyzed: the substantive dimensions of depoliticization, postmaterialism, and nationalism and the strategic dimensions of radicalization, decentralization, and institutionalization of protest. Data were collected through participant observation at demonstrations, walking tours through affected neighborhoods, informal interviews with people inside and outside the scene, media analyses, and literature searches. Findings show that protests of the eighties were more violent than those of earlier decades. Willingness to engage in the process of system transformation is declining among protestors aged 15-24 and growing among those old enough to have witnessed or participated in the movements of the sixties. Both the young and the old, however, pose a significant challenge to the established political parties in West European systems. (RM)