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Whereas protests have been discussed predominantly in terms of collective action issues, achieving coordination does not always guarantee success. Protest groups must also back their demands with sufficient threats. Some assert that threats are enhanced by the mobilization of more resources. Yet this conventional wisdom fails to explain why not all large-scale protests win government concessions or why some protest groups spend resources on their organizational infrastructure even though it will not inflict immediate damage on the government. Formalizing protest in a bargaining model, I show that investing in organizational infrastructure improves the impact of protest groups' threats by lowering the probability that a counter-protest will offset the impact of the original protest.

Whereas protests have been discussed predominantly in terms of collective action issues, achieving coordination does not always guarantee success. Protest groups must also back their demands with sufficient threats. Some assert that threats are enhanced by the mobilization of more resources. Yet this conventional wisdom fails to explain why not all large-scale protests win government concessions or why some protest groups spend resources on their organizational infrastructure even though it will not inflict immediate damage on the government. Formalizing protest in a bargaining model, I show that investing in organizational infrastructure improves the impact of protest groups' threats by lowering the probability that a counter-protest will offset the impact of the original protest.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-93). ; This study investigates the willingness of Zimbabweans to use protest participation as an alternative route to the democratisation of Zimbabwe. A set of theoretical determinants from the literature are tested against individual reports of protest participation usmg the Afrobarometer survey: Round 3. Explanations include economic, political, cultural, cognitive and collective action factors. The evidence from this study reveals that, while conventional wisdom would associate protest with the economically insecure, the unemployed and individuals who belong to the working class, in Zimbabwe protest potential is high among the urbanised, the young, professionals, educated and the economically secure. The study raises questions about the efficacy of the strategies of civil society and opposition in Zimbabwe to mobilise protest Zimbabweans, despite being marginalised and confronted with the most severe crisis, are not inclined to push for economic and political transformation.

Introduction -- Infrastructures and practices of protest camping -- Media and communication infrastructures -- Protest action infrastructures -- Governance infrastructures -- Re-creation infrastructures -- Alternative worlds

Draws upon diverse theoretical & empirical research on repression & mobilization to explore what seems to be changing & what still needs to be learned. It is contended that the existing research tends to overemphasize violent activity within collective action & often misrepresents both democratic political systems & repression/mobilization as uniformly structured in a specific manner. A discussion of the interaction of the actors/actions involved in mobilization & repression highlights the complexity of interaction between challengers & the state as well as the wide variation in both protester objectives/tactics & protest policing. A review of videotaped interactions between protesters & police at several large events in London indicates that violent actions by either protesters or police are relatively rare & when they do occur they tend to be short-lived & engaged in by only a small fraction of the total group. An approach for analyzing interaction between protesters & the police that considers how actors adapt their behaviors to one another is suggested. 4 Tables, 61 References. J. Lindroth

Draws upon diverse theoretical & empirical research on repression & mobilization to explore what seems to be changing & what still needs to be learned. It is contended that the existing research tends to overemphasize violent activity within collective action & often misrepresents both democratic political systems & repression/mobilization as uniformly structured in a specific manner. A discussion of the interaction of the actors/actions involved in mobilization & repression highlights the complexity of interaction between challengers & the state as well as the wide variation in both protester objectives/tactics & protest policing. A review of videotaped interactions between protesters & police at several large events in London indicates that violent actions by either protesters or police are relatively rare & when they do occur they tend to be short-lived & engaged in by only a small fraction of the total group. An approach for analyzing interaction between protesters & the police that considers how actors adapt their behaviors to one another is suggested. 4 Tables, 61 References. J. Lindroth

Protests often indicate social states of emergency. The Gezi protests, in which people from various social, political, and class backgrounds went to the streets to voice their dissent, reflected a state of emergency in Turkey. Young people, often referred to as members of the country's post-1980 apolitical generation within public discourse, unexpectedly gathered on the streets and acted as the frontrunners of this mass movement. Their way of protesting through creative performances and humor effectively increased their visibility. Drawing upon the concept of emergency, and guided by a cultural performative approach, this article focuses on young people's experiences of protest. It is a study of the reasons and meanings behind young people's participation in the protests, as well as of values such as trust, solidarity, and collectivity upon which their action was grounded. My findings are based on qualitative field research, i. e., in-depth interviews conducted with young participants of the Gezi protests in İstanbul. The investigation is driven by the questions of how young people describe the notion of the political in relation to trust, solidarity, and collectivity, and how these diverse ways of describing the political through practices foreshadow a new understanding of the political.

Cover Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1: An Overview of Protest Movements -- 2: Nonviolent Protest Is the Only Effective Means of Protest -- 3: Direct Action, Including Violence, Is Sometimes Necessary to Effect Change -- 4: Comedy and Street Theater Are Effective Protest Tactics -- 5: Theatrical Confrontation Is No Longer an Effective Protest Tactic -- 6: Civil Disobedience Is an Effective Protest Tactic -- 7: Protests Like Occupy Damage the Economy and Accomplish Nothing -- 8: The Occupy Movement Had a Lasting Impact -- 9: Economic Inequality in the United States Is an Important Issue for Protest Movements -- 10: Protest Movements Targeting Economic Inequality in the United States Are Misguided -- 11: From Slacktivism to Activism -- 12: Social Media Amplify the Power of Protest -- 13: This Independence Day, Thank a Protester -- 14: Popular Dissent Is Being Actively Suppressed in the United States -- Appendix -- What You Should Know About Social Protest -- What You Should Do About Social Protest -- Organizations to Contact -- Biblography -- Index -- Picture Credits -- Back Cover