Enabling Activist Resilience: Bystander Protection during Protest Crackdowns in Myanmar
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What accounts for the survival and long-term participation of activists in contentious movements under repression? I argue for the role of an important yet oft-neglected factor: protective support by civilian bystanders. I propose that, mainly motivated by victim-oriented sympathy, bystanders engage in high-risk protection that helps activists to escape crackdowns and bolsters their dedication to the movement. To test my theoretical claims, I examine hard cases for activist survival at the height of state violence during military rule in Myanmar between 1988-2010, with an original qualitative dataset consisting of oral history interviews and written accounts by more than 100 protest observers and former pro-democracy activists. The dataset presents an unprecedented number of voices from the average, non-contentious general public, which are mostly missing in existing research on social movements. This approach generates a fresh perspective to better understand opportunities and constraints around movement entrepreneurs in hostile environments.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Asian Politics and Policy |
Volume | 15 |
Issue number | 2 |
Pages (from-to) | 205-225 |
Number of pages | 21 |
ISSN | 1943-0779 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Bibliographical note
The work on this article was supported by funding from the European Union’s research and innovation programme HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ACCESS-03-01 under grant agreement No 101079069, entitled The EU in the volatile Indo-Pacific region (EUVIP). Licensing terms: CC BY.
- Faculty of Social Sciences - activist resilience, authoritarian repression, military rule, Myanmar, protest movement
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