The article contributes to the study of the intersections between institutional and non-institutional politics through an analysis of politicians from activist backgrounds who continue to cooperate with social movements while in office. Previous research on institutional activism and dual militancy has paid inadequate attention to the differences between politicians and civil servants in this respect even though these two groups of actors face differing constraints and opportunities for promoting movement agendas within political institutions as well as for participating in movement activities such as protests. The article maintains that to best understand the relationship between these 'activist politicians' and social movements, it is necessary to consider the micro, meso and macro levels alike. In other words, the overall relationship is affected by the politicians' identities and role properties, the organisational characteristics and dynamics of movements and parties, in addition to structural and cultural factors. The empirical case discussed in the article concerns migrant rights activism in Finland in the late 2010s.

The article discusses recent anti-racist and migrant rights activism in Finland with the help of Norbert Elias' figurational sociology and the concept of the established-outsiders figuration. The mobilisation of 'outsiders' (racialised minorities and migrants) has reordered the contemporary field and challenged the 'established' majority activists to reflect on their own practices. Through combining figurational and cultural perspectives, I compare the extent to which established liberal and left-libertarian activists, with their distinct ideological positions, have succeeded in transforming the power ratio between themselves and the outsiders. This article advances the use of the established-outsiders conceptualisation in cases where the established support, in principle, the outsiders' inclusion. This helps to shed light on both the more covert and subtle ways through which the established reproduce their power as well as their agency in dismantling the power disparity.