The Role of Broker Variation in Explaining Patterns of Protest (Pre-Recorded)

• In Event: Linkages of the State: Brokers, Citizen Observers, and Political Connections

Abstract

Protest brokers – intermediaries who connect elites desiring mobilization with communities of potential protesters – play an important role in the organization of protest. While the existing literature has so far seen these brokers as homogenous in type, however, this article introduces the concept of variation at the broker level. Focusing on two key relationships – the relationship between brokers and elites, and the relationship between brokers and the communities they mobilize – it presents the first typology of protest brokers, and shows how variation at the broker level leads to predictable variation in protest frequency, variety, and duration, as well as the likelihood of violence, and the mobilization tactics that are used. The argument is tested using an original dataset, along with qualitative data from over 26 months of fieldwork in South Africa, and the findings highlight the critical role played by variation at the broker level, with important theoretical and practical implications for our understanding of collective action.

Author

• Sarah Jane Lockwood, University of Cambridge