Violence or nonviolence: the instrumental nature of protest mobilization

Abstract

Protest mobilization is a complex multidimensional process, the implementation of which depends on a number of factors, both objective and subjective. Regular practices of large-scale demonstrations directed against the activities of state structures in various regions of the world, as well as an unprecedented decrease in the level of violence in the world, actualize issues related to the grounds of protest activity, as well as tools that characterize protest mobilization. In this regard, the subject of the study are the tools of protest political mobilization, and the purpose of the study, in turn, is to determine the boundaries of the use of violence and nonviolence as tools of protest mobilization. В В Based on the principles of the theory of "adversarial politics" by C. Tilly to the analysis of violence and nonviolence in political activity, as well as using the analysis of current data on the practices of protest activity, the authors made a number of conclusions: 1) both violent and nonviolent instruments are rooted in the basis of protest activity, which are mixed within the framework of mass actions in various proportions; 2) violence is an integral part of mass protests, but the magnitude and intensity of violence is determined by the level of political dissatisfaction with the subjects of collective activity and the scale of the available resource base; 3) according to statistics, nonviolent forms of collective protest actions are more successful in realizing the stated goals of the subjects of mobilization.