We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Alone in the crowd: Lone protesters in Western European demonstrations.
- Authors
Wahlström, Mattias; Wennerhag, Magnus
- Abstract
While corroborating the fact that the majority of protesters attend demonstrations together with friends, family and/or fellow members of their organizations, this article shows that protesting alone remains an option for many people – under the right circumstances. Through multilevel analysis of survey data from participants in 69 demonstrations in eight Western European countries, the authors study lone protesters in different types of demonstrations. On the individual level, they show that protesting alone is closely linked to relative detachment from interpersonal mobilizing networks, as well as to short decision times. The authors also develop demonstration-level explanations for why lone protesters are more common in some demonstrations than in others. Precipitating events and inclusive social movement communities increase the proportion of lone demonstrators, which is also higher in static rallies than in moving demonstrations. These factors arguably make personal networks less crucial for protest mobilization.
- Subjects
EUROPE; PUBLIC demonstrations; SOCIAL participation; SOCIAL networks; DIPLOMATIC protests
- Publication
International Sociology, 2014, Vol 29, Issue 6, p565
- ISSN
0268-5809
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1177/0268580914554117