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Reexamining Radicalness: The Structural Position of Radical Tactics, 1960-1995

Sat, August 16, 4:30 to 6:10pm, TBA

Abstract

Extant research suggests that radical or disruptive tactics are more effective, more likely to garner media attention, and likely to alter the dynamics of interactions with police. However, the literature lacks an empirically-based structural understanding of the position of radical protest tactics in the tactical repertoire. This paper analyzes the position of radical tactics by applying social network analysis methods to data on the tactics and claims of over 7,000 protest events reported in the New York Times from 1960 to 1995. We examine the centrality of radical tactics, the extent to which radical tactics are structurally equivalent, and the extent to which radical tactics hang together with each other and with radical claims. Our findings challenge previously unexamined assumptions about the structural position of radical tactics, and have important implications in particular for future studies of the impact of tactics on media coverage, protest policing, and movement success.

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