How Gender Moderates the Individual-level Effects of Demonstration Participation

• In Event: 474 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 21. Movement Participation

Abstract

Social movement studies have historically overlooked the role of gender in protest. Research has also neglected to consider the personal consequences of demonstration participation, focusing instead on macro-level movement outcomes. To address these gaps, I use European Social Survey (ESS) data to examine how gender moderates the effects of demonstration participation on individuals’ internal and external political efficacy. Results indicate that participation boosts the internal and external political efficacy of men. Women protesters, however, report an increase in internal efficacy, but a decrease in external political efficacy compared to women non-protesters. This suggests that barriers to participation and the relatively high risk-potential of protest—even when legal and routine—continue to affect women and men differently. In making this argument, I contribute to the literature on how gender moderates protest participation and experience, and reinforce the need to focus on the effects of participation in discrete protest events.

Author

• Robert William Mowry, University of Notre Dame