Participation Creating Stigmatization? Rebels’ Protest Participation in Colombia

• In Event: Public Opinion and Experimental Methods in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

While significant literature exists on the political participation of demobilized rebels in conventional party politics, research on their participation in protest movements is scarce. Yet, peace process societies are often prone to contentious politics, and demobilized rebels are likely participants. Since citizens might associate demobilized rebels with violence and wartime atrocities, these former rebels' protest participation may yield protest stigmatization and legitimacy concerns. Based on a survey experiment in Colombia, this article explores whether demobilized rebels' participation and vandalism during protests alter citizen approval of protests. Results show that both, the participation of former rebels and vandalism during protests, reduce citizens' support significantly, while a name change of the rebel-successor organization mitigates such negative effect on citizen perception. The analysis contributes to our understanding of how accepted former rebel political participation is and how successful stigmatization and delegitimating tactics of protest opponents in peace process societies are.

Author

• Christoph Daniel Sponsel, Oxford University