“Ultimately we're all losing”: Failure and Repression in an Activist Community

• In Event: Legitimacy, Repression and Mobilization

Abstract

Through analysis of interviews with U.S. activists who have experienced state repression (including arrest, violence, surveillance, and infiltration), I identify an interesting pattern: most activists perceive their involvement in collective action to be ineffective and can point to many “failures” and few, if any “successes.” This is puzzling considering that most of these individuals have been heavily involved in social movement activity for years, and have demonstrated—often repeatedly—a willingness to risk arrest, violence, negative career consequences, and other costs for their political involvement. This finding runs counter to political opportunity theory and rational choice theories of repression impacts, which would suggest that people mobilize because they think they can win, and are willing to accept the costs of repression only if they see a potential pay-off. My research raises important questions about how activists individually and collectively define success and failure and perceive the risks and benefits of dissent. Through analysis of activist discourse, reflected in both the in-depth interviews and in activist publications, I formulate an alternative model of activist persistence in the face of repression. I argue that persistence is not a function of a rational calculus of risk and reward, but instead an expression of a deeply-held social identity and a sense of commitment to affective relationships with other activists.

Author

• Heidi Reynolds-Stenson, University of Arizona