Battle in the Streets, Battle in the Press: Symbolic Protest in Mexico

• In Event: Protest and Resistance in the Developing World

Abstract

Scholars and activists alike understand that generating newsworthy protest is a great challenge. Moreover, once protest has been catapulted onto the national stage, political elites may choose to ignore it, and often do. This paper helps us understand why. It develops a theory of symbolic protest management, using a subnational research design with newspaper data on Mexican protest events. The paper then delineates various types of symbolic responses projected in the national news and explores the ways that state capacity and protest intensity (violence, size, and duration) are associated with the likelihood of symbolic response. In addition, the findings demonstrate that state officials, interested in framing their own actions, will be more likely to use symbolic gestures alongside concrete state responses, such as repression or concessions.

Author

• Heather A. Sullivan, Hamilton College