Collective action under repressive conditions: integration of individual, group, and structural level research, recommendations, and reflections

Abstract

Social scientific research from different traditions on collective action under repressive conditions is fragmented across different levels of analysis. The current paper takes a first step toward remedying this fragmentation by reviewing research findings on repression and collective action and organizing them into a multilevel framework. We describe the impact of repression on antecedents of collective action at the (a) individual level (including grievances, emotions, efficacy beliefs, politicized identity, and individual differences), (b) group level (including community cohesion and norms), and (c) structural level (including political opportunities and socioecological conditions). We then present an integrative summary reflecting on the broad patterns we observed in the literature. We conclude with policy implications of this work, suggesting recommendations for activists to overcome repression, for authorities to foster pluralist political participation while maintaining stability, and for researchers to further advance knowledge on repression and collective action.