Resist and Persist: The Staying Power of Center-left Resistance Groups following the 2016 Election

• In Event: 3156 - Modes of Political Dissent and Consent

Abstract

The unexpected election of Donald Trump on November 8th, 2016, gave rise to inspired grassroots-oriented progressive political groups committed to resisting the actions and ideology of the Trump administration. Thousands of these center-left resistance groups (CLRGs) formed across the United States, many using the “Pantsuit Nation” Facebook group and the Women’s March on Washington as major catapults for establishment and encouraging participant engagement. Our paper seeks to highlight the development, demographics, and sustained engagement of CLRGs in counties or states that turned out voter majorities for Barack Obama in 2012 but flipped to Donald Trump in 2016, including data from over 45 center-left resistance groups in six counties in North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin and across the state of Pennsylvania since the 2016 Presidential Election. We analyze organization-level and participant-level survey data, group leader interviews, and social media accounts to determine how these CLRGs formed and their methods for engaging in acts of resistance and maintaining participation. We assess how local groups adopted guides and directives from national-level organizations like Indivisible, Action Together Network, Suit Up Nation, the Women’s March, and Pantsuit Nation and adapted their leadership methodology to the action-oriented demands of members. We conclude that CLRGs, founded largely through female friendships and expanded through real-life social connections, form the backbone of a progressive grassroots resistance movement that anchors collective identity in the idea of sustained commitment by all group members to engage in political, social, or economic acts of resistance aimed at locally elected officials and the Trump Administration. This study’s findings indicate that CLRGs in pro-Trump areas have found staying power in their ability to build identity based on local, progressive activism separate from political party organizations and the successful use of social media to educate and shape a supportive online community.

Authors

• Leah Gose, Harvard University

• Theda Skocpol, Harvard University