Toward an agency‐centered iterative approach to social movement repression

Abstract

AbstractThere is a significant amount of research that analyzes the consequences of repression on social movement mobilization. Yet most studies do not examine the strategic agency of protesters, who can avoid, minimize, or transform punitive sanctions. In this article, I call for an agency‐centered approach that highlights the iterative dynamics between protesters and agents of repression, emphasizing that the consequences of repression are largely shaped by activists' responses. Reviewing the literature on this topic, I summarize common methods of repression used by both the state and private citizens—such as information gathering, planting provocateurs, legal harassment, and direct violence. I also discuss movement counter‐methods for muting the impact of repression, which include tactical shifts, decentralized organizational structures, and obstructing surveillance technologies, among others. While researchers have documented typical methods of social control, we must also capture protesters' tool kit of strategic responses that enable movements to persist during periods of repression.