The activity of travelling between important political summits with the intention of participating in non-violent protests or rioting. Term popularized during the 2001 European Summer of Resistance, in which several large summits where held in different European countries during June/July. Described by commentators as everything from a new sort of extreme sports to the acts of international terrorists.
Large summits like the ones held by G8 and EU has attracted the attention of several (hundreds) of interest groups, which so far has worked together allied in globalization skepticism to make housing and travel arrangements for demonstrators. Making the act of hopping, if not pleasant, rather easy. Critics has argued that this form of involvement is a reflection of the privilege and comfort zone of western activists.
The large scale demonstrations have led world leaders to openly discuss the possibility to locate large meetings outside the immediate reach of the public, examplified by the next WTO Summit, which is to be held in Qatar.
Participating in major demonstrations is indeed exciting and can at times be violent, but nonetheless, summit hopping as a phenomenon is to most of the participants the result of a dedication to express their voice on a diverse range of causes.