Transnational Structures and Protest: Linking Theories and Assessing Evidence

Abstract

Despite the burgeoning literature on globalization, the effects of transnational processes on collective action remain under-theorized. Linking concepts from world-system, dependency, and international relations theories with political process theory, I generate sixteen propositions about transnational structural sources of protest. Five facets of political opportunity structure are examined: institutional access, unstable political alignments, divided elites, influential allies, and repression. Drawing from a wide range of sources, I then assess the validity of each proposition. The available evidence indicates that cyclical phases in the capitalist world economy, economic and political dependency, and competition and conflict among states significantly affect dimensions of political opportunity.