Lecture 5b: The Mechanisms Of Emotion Violent Protest. In Dynamics of political violence (Johnston, 2016)

Question 1

2 fundamental emotional mechanisms in collective violence

Answer 1

1. Fear abatement (decreasing of fear)
2. Anger spiral

Question 2

Types of violence

Answer 2

• Scattered attacks: usually burst form larger, mostly non-violent actions, when militant groups violently make their claims or register discontent.
• Violence in response to broken negotiations: common pattern of initially nonviolent protests becoming entirely violent in reaction to authorities unresponsiveness.
• Polarisation: a widening of political social social space between demanders in a conflict episode. Typically involves the movement of uncommitted bystanders and is a process of social construction.
• (Char)actor constitution: an interactive and repeating category of identity construction forged in the fire of conflict for both protesters and opponents.

Question 2

A violent act can be divided into:

Answer 2

• The degree of coordination among violent actors (generally, more coordination leads to more destruction, injury and death).
• The degree of ‘salience of the violence to the act’ (the degree to which the violence defines the action).

Question 3

Emotion-mechanisms in violent protests

Answer 3

There are 2 main emotions that spark violence in protests:
1. Fear: a key emotion among protesters in authoritarian, nondemocratic regimes, where the army and police often violently repress protests.
2. Anger: which in the heat of the moment can turn peaceful protests into violent confrontations.

Anger and fear can sometimes mix to drive mobilisation processes.

Question 4

Fear abatement

Answer 4

Has a 2-step role in the development of protests:

1. First, fear causes a ‘veil of silence’ among the protestors, which must be broken to cause the initial mobilisation of the protest. Early riser (with a higher fear threshold) often break this with small, symbolic actions to inspire the other protesters. This caused a rise of fear threshold for the other protesters and progressive, larger mobilisation.
2. Second, decreased fear is collectively manifested through the persistence and support form other protesters and reduced threat for protestors. And decreased fear is collectively manifested through the apparent inability of the forces of social control (like the police) due to the increasing numbers of protestors. These processes get reinforced by actor construction.

Question 5

(Char)actor construction

Answer 5

People get a feeling of being part of the group and of solidarity to fellow members of the group (an oppositional identity and solidarity):

“The experience of the voice - of standing up to be heard as part of a collective - has the effect of raising the social basis of one’s identity, which produces a shared sense of well-being and enjoyment.”

Question 6

Mechanism of fear abatement

Answer 6

Early-rise activist with a high fear threshold → progressive, larger mobilisation → increasing numbers of protesters → reduced threat for protesters → less police success → oppositional identity and solidarity → even bigger masses → harder to contain for the police.

Question 7

Anger spiral

Answer 7

1. Begins with long-term anger (as the emotional component of injustice), that is brought to initial confrontation with forces of social control (street clashes).
2. This can lead to orders for repression, loss of control from the police, and threats from protesters aggression.
3. The police responds with reflexive anger (large, unexpected numbers of protesters, perceived loss of control, perceived threat etc.).
4. Reflexive anger from the protestors.
5. Anger spiral