Protest


A protest is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate by attending, and share the potential costs and risks of doing so. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass political demonstrations. Protesters may organize a protest as a way of publicly making their opinions heard in an attempt to influence public opinion or government policy, or they may undertake direct action in an attempt to enact desired changes themselves. When protests are part of a systematic and peaceful nonviolent campaign to achieve a particular objective, and involve the use of pressure as well as persuasion, they go beyond mere protest and may be better described as civil resistance or nonviolent resistance.
Various forms of self-expression and protest are sometimes restricted by governmental policy, economic circumstances, religious orthodoxy, social structures, or media monopoly. One state reaction to protests is the use of riot police. Observers have noted an increased militarization of protest policing in many countries, with police deploying armored vehicles and snipers against protesters. When such restrictions occur, protests may assume the form of open civil disobedience, more subtle forms of resistance against the restrictions, or may spill over into other areas such as culture and emigration.
A protest itself may at times be the subject of a counter-protest. In such cases, counter-protesters demonstrate their support for the person, policy, action, etc. that is the subject of the original protest. Protesters and counter-protesters can sometimes violently clash. One study found that nonviolent activism during the civil rights movement in the United States tended to produce favorable media coverage and changes in public opinion focusing on the issues organizers were raising, but violent protests tended to generate unfavorable media coverage that generated public desire to restore law and order.

Historical examples

Unaddressed protests may grow and widen into civil resistance, dissent, activism, riots, insurgency, revolts, and political or social revolution. Some examples of protests include:
A protest can take many forms.
Willingness to participate is influenced by individuals' ties within social networks. Social connections can affect both the spread of factual information about a protest and social pressures on participants.
Willing to participate will also vary depending on the type of protest.
Likelihood that someone will respond to a protest is also affected by group identification, and by the types of tactics involved.
File:Protest over TET, SSC education scam in West Bengal 01.jpg|thumb|TET passed candidates who are protesting over SSC scam in West Bengal, beneath the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Kolkata Maidan.
The Dynamics of Collective Action project and the Global Nonviolent Action Database are two of the leading data collection efforts attempting to capture information about protest events. The Dynamics of Collective Action project considers the repertoire of protest tactics to include:
  • Rally or Demonstration: Demonstration, rally, or similar protest, without reference to marching or walking in a picket line or standing in a vigil. Reference to speeches, speakers, singing, or preaching, often verified by the presence of PA sound equipment and sometimes by a platform or stage. Ordinarily will include worship services, speeches, briefings.
  • March: Reference to moving from one location to another; to distinguish from rotating or walking in a circle with picket signs.
  • Vigil: Most vigils have banners, placards, or leaflets so that people passing by, despite silence from participants, can be informed about the purpose of the vigil.
  • Picket: The modal activity is picketing; there may be references to a picket line, informational picketing, or holding signs; "carrying signs and walking around in a circle". Holding signs, placards, or banners is not the defining criteria; rather, it is holding or carrying those items and walking a circular route, a phrase sometimes surprisingly found in the permit application.
  • Civil Disobedience: Explicit protest that involves deliberately breaking laws deemed unjust in order to protest them; crossing barricades, prohibited use of segregated facilities, voter registration drives, or tying up phone lines.
  • Ceremony: These celebrate or protest status transitions ranging from birth and death dates of individuals, organizations or nations; seasons; re-enlistment or commissioning of military personnel; or to anniversaries of any of the above. These are sometimes referenced by presenting flowers or wreaths commemorating, dedicating, or celebrating status transitions or their anniversary; e.g., an annual merchant marine memorial service, celebrating Hanukkah or Easter, or celebrating the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.
  • Dramaturgical Demonstration
  • Motorcade: Vehicular procession
  • Protest camps or peace camps, a long-standing protest or occupation, a form of intentional community
  • Information distribution: Tabling/petition gathering, lobbying, letter-writing campaigns, or teach-ins.
  • Symbolic Display: e.g., a menorah or creche scene, graffiti, cross burning, sign, or standing display.
  • Attack by collective group : Motivation for attack is the "other group's identity", as in gay-bashing or lynching. Can also include verbal attacks or threats.
  • Riot, melee, mob violence: Large-scale, use of violence by instigators against persons, property, police, or buildings separately or in combination, lasting several hours.
  • Strike, slow down, sick-ins, and employee work protest of any kind: Regular air strike through failure of negotiations or wildcat air strike.
  • Boycott: Organized refusal to buy or use a product or service. Examples: rent strikes, Montgomery bus boycotts
  • Press Conference: Only if specifically named as such in report, and must be the predominant activity form. Could involve disclosure of information to "educate the public" or influence various decision-makers.
  • Organization formation announcement or meeting announcement: Meeting or press conference to announce the formation of a new organization.
  • Conflict, attack or clash : This includes any boundary conflict in which no instigator can be identified, i.e. Black/white conflicts, abortion/anti-abortion conflicts.
  • Prayer Walk: A prayer walk is an activity that consists of walking and praying at the same time.
  • Lawsuit: Legal maneuver by social movement organization or group.
  • Peopleless Protest: Simultaneous online and offline protests involving physical representations of protesters in public spaces that are subsequently assembled online. Developed in Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Holographic projections of protesters were used in Spain to highlight the use of anti-protest laws in 2015.
File:CommunistLiberty.webm|thumb|UCL, anarchist protest in France, on 16 October during the COVID-19 pandemic
The Global Nonviolent Action Database uses Gene Sharp's classification of 198 methods of nonviolent action. There is considerable overlap with the Dynamics of Collective Action repertoire, although the GNA repertoire includes more specific tactics. Together, the two projects help define tactics available to protesters and document instances of their use.