This article focuses on the phenomenon of collective action, using as an example the intervention carried out by a small group of people in defense of a public space of leisure and nature named "Mata Nacional do Choupal", situated in Coimbra (Portugal), against the construction of a highway road. The analysis of this small group frames the understanding of the relationship between collective action and the phenomenon of threat, showing how such collective action is conditioned by an emotional dimension, from the individuals' relation to the goods that they enjoy. Thus, we point out the existence of a dynamic factor for mobilization and demobilization of collective action, arising from the relationship between the threat and the perception of risk by the elements of the group, which we call "directions of collective action".
collective action; threat; risk; mobilization; demobilization
