Pro | pro-democracy movement
Whydopoliticalactivists(andespeciallytheirmovement’sleaders)fightagainstdictatorshipandforpoliticalchangeevenunderhighriskofimprisonment,tortureorcapitalpunishment?Giventherepertoireofintimidationandrepressionavailabletoauthoritarianincumbents,fightingagainsttheirrulecancomeatahighcost,endangeringthewell-beingofindividualactivistsaswellasthatoftheirclosestallies.Thefateofpro-democracyactivistsinBelarus,RussiaorHongkongprovidestrikingexamples.Scholarsfromdifferentdisciplinaryanglesinvestigate...
Why do political activists (and especially their movement’s leaders) fight against dictatorship and for political change even under high risk of imprisonment, torture or capital punishment? Given the repertoire of intimidation and repression available to authoritarian incumbents, fighting against their rule can come at a high cost, endangering the well-being of individual activists as well as that of their closest allies. The fate of pro-democracy activists in Belarus, Russia or Hongkong provide striking examples.Scholars from different disciplinary angles investigate political activism in autocracies. Studying the emergence, and endurance of political activism and social movements, scholars from sociology and political science focus on political opportunities such as regime structures, socio-economic context, and external support, as well as pre-existing social networks, previous protest experience, and existing communication channels to explain political a...