Toward an agency‐centered iterative approach to social movement repression

Abstract

There is a significant amount of research that analyzes the consequences of repression on social movement mobilization. Yet most studies do not examine the strategic agency of protesters, who can avoid, minimize, or transform punitive sanctions. In this article, I call for an agency‐centered approach that highlights the iterative dynamics between protesters and agents of repression, emphasizing that the consequences of repression are largely shaped by activists' responses. Reviewing the literature on this topic, I summarize common methods of repression used by both the state and private citizens—such as information gathering, planting provocateurs, legal harassment, and direct violence. I also discuss movement counter‐methods for muting the impact of repression, which include tactical shifts, decentralized organizational structures, and obstructing surveillance technologies, among others. While researchers have documented typical methods of social control, we must also capture protesters' tool kit of strategic responses that enable movements to persist during periods of repression.

Security, Order and Surveillance: The Right to Protest in the World of the Future

“…Bu uygulamalar etkisizleştirme stratejisi kapsamında geliştirilmiştir ve amacı istenildiği takdirde gözaltı gibi taktiklere de başvurarak protestonun gerçekleştirilmesini engellemektir. Toplumsal hareketleri baskı altına almak isteyen devletler ve yurttaşlar yanlış bilgilendirme kampanyaları, provokatör yerleştirme, tutuklamalar ve hapsetmeler, doğrudan şiddet gibi yüzyıllardır denenmiş ve doğrulanmış yöntemleri aynı anda uygularken yeni gözetim teknolojileri de geliştirmiştir (Nepstad, 2023). Stéphane Leman-Langlois (2010) polislerin teknolojik imkanları kullanarak yeni gözetim teknikleri kullanmaya başlamasını Foucault'nun panoptikon kavramına atıfla "miyop panoptikon" olarak adlandırır.…”