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Why Do People Join Backlash Protests? Lessons from Turkey

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  • S. Erdem Aytaç
  • Luis Schiumerini
  • Susan Stokes

Abstract

When people learn that demonstrators are being subjected to harsh treatment by the police, sometimes their reaction is to join demonstrations. What explains the potentially mobilizing power of repression? Information-oriented theories posit that repression changes people’s beliefs about the likely success of the protests or the type of the government, thus encouraging them to join. Social–psychological theories posit that repression provokes a moral and emotional reaction from bystanders, and these emotional reactions are mobilizing. Our research offers a rare opportunity to test these theories, empirically, against one another. We offer experimental evidence from Turkey after the 2013 Gezi uprising. In this setting, emotional reactions appear to be the link between repression and backlash mobilization. Information-oriented theories of backlash mobilization may be less germane in democracies, in which people already have access to information about their governments, and in highly polarized polities, in which few people’s political affinities are up for grabs.

Suggested Citation

  • S. Erdem Aytaç & Luis Schiumerini & Susan Stokes, 2018. "Why Do People Join Backlash Protests? Lessons from Turkey," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 62(6), pages 1205-1228, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:62:y:2018:i:6:p:1205-1228
    DOI: 10.1177/0022002716686828
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    References listed on IDEAS

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