Public Space and Mass Protests: What Makes a Public Space an Appropriate Place for Protest?

• In Event: 277 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 19. Protest Spaces

Abstract

The relationship between social movements and place has been studied from different viewpoints in the social movements literature. While some aspects of this relationship - such as diffusion processes and policing tactics- have been studied more thoroughly, they rarely offer insights on how and why protesters choose specific spaces for protest. What makes a public space a good place for protest? How do protesters use public spaces? Do the physical form, symbolic meanings, location, and social characteristics of public spaces influence the ways in which protesters use the space? Using the case of the spaces of protest in Tehran, Iran (2009- 2011) this paper is an attempt for better understanding the relationship between public space and social movements. Based on this case, I try to answer a more general question: what aspects of an urban space make it an appropriate place for protest? I show that a combination of different factors, physical as well as social and cultural, shape the choices of places of protest. I also show how low risk and high risk participation might prioritize some elements over others in choosing some places of protest or avoiding others.

Author

• Jaleh Jalili, Brandeis University