Transgressive protest after a democratic transition

The Kamour Campaign in Tunisia

Bibliographic Data

ID6220697
AuthorsRory Mccarthy (0000-0001-7252-9294, Durham University, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume21
Issue6
Pages798-815
Publication date2022-11-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial movement studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1474-2829 • E-ISSN: 1474-2837
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14742837.2021.1967128
OpenAlexW3196887859
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited48

A democratic transition is likely to bring significant changes to the character of contentious politics. Scholars argue protest is likely to become normalized and more frequent because of new opportunities, but less radical because it is channelled by political actors into a more responsive political system. However, less attention has been paid to explaining those protest episodes, which remain transgressive. This article uses an original event catalogue and informant interviews to examine the microlevel interactions within one such episode, the Kamour protest in Tunisia in 2017, in which hundreds of young unemployed protesters staged a four-month long sit-in and shut off an oil pipeline to demand jobs and increased state spending in their region. Findings show that in conditions of low political trust, protesters relied on three mechanisms: they escalated but self-limited their actions; organized autonomously but used fraternization to seek the protection of the military; and resisted institutionalization as a political party even as they transformed their claims to appeal to the ‘absent state’ to demand deeper democratic reforms. Evidence from Tunisia contributes to explaining how political mistrust shapes transgressive protests after a democratic transition

Appeal · Democracy · Democratization · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Transgressive · Transition (genetics · Law · Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender · Political Conflict and Governance · Politics and Society in Latin America

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access