Understanding Protest Intensity in a Sample of Highly Mobilized Activists

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of social networks, biographical availability, and economic strain on protest intensity, the number of protests attended in a given period time, in a sample of highly mobilized activists. Examining the number of protests attended, as opposed to the dichotomy of protesting or not provides a more detailed way to understand mobilization. The highly mobilized are an important but under-examined part of social movement dynamics and exhibit higher levels of networking activity than less mobilized activists. Our findings suggest that economic strain and biographical availability, for the most part, are poor predictors of protest intensity. In contrast, we find that social networks – measured as connections to other individuals and organizations as well as the use of online tools for political purposes - best account for protest intensity. Our results suggest that the highly active have overcome common constraints to protest, are sustained in their high level of activity by networks of other movement actors, and have “normalized” protest participation.