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Reposted

LaGina Gause @laginagause.bsky.social · Jun 18

Nice thread here! It’s incredibly important for thinking about violence and protest tactics. What counts as violence depends on who is protesting and who is observing those protests. So, one-size-fits-all judgments about whether specific tactics “work” would definitely benefit from more skepticism.

devorahmanekin.bsky.social @devorahmanekin.bsky.social · Jun 18

7. Bottom line: tactics matter but so do our own biases when observing and reacting to resistance. Worth approaching coverage with skepticism and holding media accountable.
www.latimes.com/california/s...

All of L.A. is not a ‘war zone.’ We separate facts from spin and disinformation amid immigration raids

What's actually happening during the ICE sweeps and protests across Los Angeles.

www.latimes.com

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devorahmanekin.bsky.social @devorahmanekin.bsky.social · Jun 18

7. Bottom line: tactics matter but so do our own biases when observing and reacting to resistance. Worth approaching coverage with skepticism and holding media accountable.
www.latimes.com/california/s...

All of L.A. is not a ‘war zone.’ We separate facts from spin and disinformation amid immigration raids

What's actually happening during the ICE sweeps and protests across Los Angeles.

www.latimes.com

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devorahmanekin.bsky.social @devorahmanekin.bsky.social · Jun 18

6. This bias is amplified by media accounts, with media (including liberal media!) evoking threat when covering protests by people of color @laginagause.bsky.social www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Anger, Fear, and the Racialization of News Media Coverage of Protest Activity | Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics | Cambridge Core

Anger, Fear, and the Racialization of News Media Coverage of Protest Activity - Volume 8 Issue 3

www.cambridge.org

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devorahmanekin.bsky.social @devorahmanekin.bsky.social · Jun 18

5. Discussions of effectiveness should also be mindful of the fact that ethnic/racial minorities, as well as their grievances, are perceived as more violent by the public even when peaceful, since perceptions are biased, e.g. my work with @tmitts.bsky.social here:. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Effective for Whom? Ethnic Identity and Nonviolent Resistance | American Political Science Review | Cambridge Core

Effective for Whom? Ethnic Identity and Nonviolent Resistance - Volume 116 Issue 1

www.cambridge.org

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devorahmanekin.bsky.social @devorahmanekin.bsky.social · Jun 18

4. For example, @laginagause.bsky.social 's work suggests that disruptive protests among racial and ethnic minorities can lead to greater legislative responsiveness www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Revealing Issue Salience via Costly Protest: How Legislative Behavior Following Protest Advantages Low-Resource Groups | British Journal of Political Science | Cambridge Core

Revealing Issue Salience via Costly Protest: How Legislative Behavior Following Protest Advantages Low-Resource Groups - Volume 52 Issue 1

www.cambridge.org

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devorahmanekin.bsky.social @devorahmanekin.bsky.social · Jun 18

3 When asking what's effective, important to remember for what and for whom. As nicely summarized in the editorial, a lot of research finds that violence has a negative effect on public opinion. Research is less clear on its effectiveness for other outcomes, though.

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devorahmanekin.bsky.social @devorahmanekin.bsky.social · Jun 18

2. Research on unarmed, disruptive violence, such as seen in Los Angeles and elsewhere, is more ambiguous, as summarized by @chenoweth.bsky.social here:
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

The Role of Violence in Nonviolent Resistance | Annual Reviews

Over the past two decades, there has been growing scholarly interest in nonviolent resistance—a method of conflict in which unarmed people mobilize collective protests, strikes, and boycotts in a coor...

www.annualreviews.org

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devorahmanekin.bsky.social @devorahmanekin.bsky.social · Jun 18

[email protected] & Stephan's data is often used to show nonviolence is more effective, but it compares armed to nonarmed violence, with nonarmed violence treated as nonviolent. The data also pertains to maximalist campaigns (e.g. revolutions), calling for caution in extrapolating results.

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devorahmanekin.bsky.social @devorahmanekin.bsky.social · Jun 18

Excellent op-ed on nonviolent protest from @robbwiller.bsky.social and @owasow.bsky.social on the importance of nonviolence here www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/o.... Some additional points worth noting:

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Noam Gidron @noamgidron.bsky.social · Jun 9

An important piece from the @apsrjournal.bsky.social (by @devorahmanekin.bsky.social and @tmitts.bsky.social) to make sense of ongoing events: it matters not only which tactics are adopted by protesters but also who they are.

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devorahmanekin.bsky.social @devorahmanekin.bsky.social · Jun 9

Even a Mexican flag is being perceived/framed as violent.

bsky.app/profile/adam...

Adam Kinzinger @adamkinzinger.substack.com · Jun 8

Peaceful protests are fine. Violence is not and will only destroy your message. And please for the love of God do NOT wave a Mexican flag. American flags or nothing

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devorahmanekin.bsky.social @devorahmanekin.bsky.social · Jun 9

And we learned a lot from yours! They do matter, but our work suggests that peaceful tactics, by some groups, can be perceived as violent/threatening (others have found this re media framing). So I'd just note that tactics are not only a matter of activist choice but also of racialized perceptions.

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devorahmanekin.bsky.social @devorahmanekin.bsky.social · Jun 9

Agreed, and as your work shows, there are other factors that matter here such as how the state responds.

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devorahmanekin.bsky.social @devorahmanekin.bsky.social · Jun 9

and www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Effective for Whom? Ethnic Identity and Nonviolent Resistance | American Political Science Review | Cambridge Core

Effective for Whom? Ethnic Identity and Nonviolent Resistance - Volume 116 Issue 1

www.cambridge.org

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devorahmanekin.bsky.social @devorahmanekin.bsky.social · Jun 9

see e.g. www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Is it a rally or a riot? Racialized media framing of 2020 protests in the United States

This article draws on race relations arguments to explore the nexus between the media, race, and protest policing. The media’s coverage of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and protests opposing COVID-19 re...

www.tandfonline.com

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devorahmanekin.bsky.social @devorahmanekin.bsky.social · Jun 9

Yes, but tactics are perceived and covered through racialized lenses that frame them as threatening regardless of facts on the ground.

Omar Wasow @owasow.bsky.social · Jun 9

Consider two photos: one of an immigrant mother being separated from her child and another of a burning car. Which leads the news? Which focuses attention on the harms of mass deportations? A challenge of violent protest tactics is that they often shift attention away from the injustices they decry.

Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · Jun 9

Those concerned about violence might want to start with violence against immigrants, by ICE here, by illegal deportations to gulags and third countries, the violence against so many federal departments, against the law, the climate, the public lands, waters, civil rights, reproductive rights...

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Emily Regan Wills @ajnabieh.bsky.social · Jun 8

Jumping in with a favorite article, by Devorah Manekin and Tamara Mitts, which asks how ethnicity affects both the success of non-violent protests and the likelihood of observers judging a given protest as violent/non-violent. Spoilers: racialized folks can’t win. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

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Politics and Social Change Lab @pascl-stanford.bsky.social · May 20

‬Big thanks to @devorahmanekin.bsky.social for an engaging talk on how affective polarization may shape nonviolent resistance!

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Erica Chenoweth @chenoweth.bsky.social · Mar 26

Join @stevelevitsky.bsky.social & me on April 3 at 4pm ET. We’ll catch up on the current state of backsliding and resistance in the US. Register below.

Backsliding and Resistance in the United States – Ash Center

In this webinar, Professors Erica Chenoweth and Steven Levitsky will discuss what can be learned from mobilization and opposition to autocracy in the United States based on historical examples, and wi...

ash.harvard.edu

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devorahmanekin.bsky.social @devorahmanekin.bsky.social · Mar 25

Large, sustained anti-government and anti-war protests taking place in both Israel and in Gaza.

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Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · Mar 22

There are scores of anti Trump/DOGE/Musk protests planned for April 5 handsoff2025.com

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Erica Chenoweth @chenoweth.bsky.social · Mar 19

@djpressman.bsky.social, Soha Hammam, and I draw on our research through the Crowd Counting Consortium to show that there is far more protest happening in the US than is commonly understood, and that the shift to economic noncooperation shows powerful potential for future collective action.

Resistance is alive and well in the United States

Protests of Trump may not look like the mass marches in 2017, but they're far more numerous and frequent — and also becoming more strategic.

urldefense.proofpoint.com

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Anjali Dayal @anjalikdayal.bsky.social · Mar 19

bsky.app/profile/reil... this is bonkers and deeply disturbing. Private security, DOJ, DOGE, and the DC police together worked to take control over a private building the government *does not own* and dismiss the staff *whom the president does not employ,* removing them, it seems, with armed force

Patrick Reilly @reillykp.bsky.social · Mar 19

WashPost has a tick-tock this morning (gift link):

wapo.st/42dj8kl

DOGE plays hardball in U.S. Institute of Peace takeover

DOGE, which stands for Department of Government Efficiency, took over the U.S. Institute of Peace after threatening its officials with criminal prosecution.

wapo.st

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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · Mar 19

A crucial moment in global democratic backsliding

www.ft.com/content/c1a2...

Turkish police detain Erdoğan’s main political rival

Lira and stocks fall as Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a key challenger to president, held

www.ft.com

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Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · Mar 8

I cannot overemphasize how important it is for you to contact your local papers and offer to give an interview about the protest you participated in.

We got three articles and counting in local papers this week because of cold calls and unsolicited letters to the editor.

Amy Westervelt @amywestervelt.bsky.social · Mar 4

Seems like has been very little coverage of protests happening in the U.S.--not necessarily an intentional media blackout (although possibly), but the result of a longstanding stance in legacy media that protests aren't worth covering, activists aren't credible sources (but somehow CEOs are), etc.

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