The latest wave of democratic social movements that have emerged globally has largely displayed mistrust in governing systems and organizations. Cooperation with governmental and non-governmental organizations (GOs and NGOs) or refusal to cooperate with them has become an issue of heated debate within many progressive social movements today. The paper explores this issue through the findings obtained from seven countries (Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, Denmark, Germany, Italy and Serbia), but focuses extensively on three countries with different political cultures and levels of social and political trust: Denmark, Poland and Serbia. The research encompassed two social movements per country, and within the three countries in focus, the sample includes one environmental movement from each country, the refugee solidarity movement from Denmark, All-Polish Women Strike from Poland, and an anti-eviction movement from Serbia. On a general level, regarding the cooperation with GOs, the following observations can be made: cooperation takes place only when deemed necessary, and is thus described as instrumental; often causes polarisation among members; takes place mostly at the local level; is perceived to have unclear or
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even detrimental effects on citizen trust. On the other hand, cooperation with NGOs is very common; instrumental, but also based on shared values; usually perceived as beneficial for the citizen trust. In the paper, we will further explore the social movements’ attitudes toward, and the perceived effects of their cooperation with GOs and NGOs, particularly with respect to trust relations within the movement and beyond. We want to stress the role of two factors: social movements’ concrete short and long-term goals, and the role of political, social and cultural context.