Repression, Backfire, and The Theory of Transformative Events

David J. Hess · Brian G. Martin

446 citations0/0 files storedMobilization An International Quarterly

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Political Conflict and Governance Memory, violence, and history Social Movements and Cultural Identity

Abstract

Repression sometimes can lead to greater movement mobilization: repressive events that are perceived as unjust have the potential to generate enormous public outrage against those seen as responsible. One result of repression-backfire-can contribute to the understanding of the conditions under which some repressive events may become transformative for social movements. Three case studies that highlight the processes involved in backfire are examined: the 1930 Salt March in India, in particular the beatings at Dharasana, that mobilized popular support for independence; the 1991 massacre in Dili, East Timor, which stimulated a massive expansion in international support for East Timorese independence; and the arrest of alternative cancer therapist John Richardson in 1972, which led to a huge growth in the U.S. movement for alternative therapies. The cases generate a preliminary understanding of the potential scope of backfire, the processes involved in backfire, and new hypotheses.

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References

2001Dynamics of Contention 2017From Mobilization to Revolution 1999Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930-1970 2000Social Movements: An Introduction 1974The Politics of Nonviolent Action 1999The Art of Moral Protest: Culture, Biography, and Creativity in Social Movements 1995Recruiting Strangers and Friends: Moral Shocks and Social Networks in Animal Rights and Anti-Nuclear Protests 1996Concessions, Repression, and Political Protest in the Iranian Revolution

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