Modern protest movements in the USA as a subject of political science research

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Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine

Modern protest movements in the USA as a subject of political science research

Tkach Oleg Ivanovych

Doctor of Political Science, Professor

Professor of Political Science Department

Skrypchenko Ihor Volodymyrovych

Ph.D. student in Political Science

Abstract

The article analyzes the main approaches to defining and understanding modern protest movements in the USA. The role of political protest as one of the forms of contentious politics is defined. The key importance of protest in the formation of mass social movements is clarified. The main theoretical approaches to defining the essence of the phenomenon and the concept of «social movement» are presented. The stages of development of modern protest movements and their key importance in the political life of the United States of America are studied.

Keywords: protest, social movement, protest movement, contentious politics, collective behavior, Charles Tilly, Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street, Tea Party movement, the USA, democracy.

Ткач Олег Іванович, доктор політичних наук, професор, професор кафедри політології, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка, Україна

Скрипченко Ігор Володимирович, аспірант кафедри політології, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка, Україна

Сучасні протестні рухи в США як предмет політологічного дослідження

Анотація

protest movement politics dissent

У статті проаналізовано основні підходи до визначення й розуміння сучасних протестних рухів у США. Визначено роль політичного протесту як однієї з форм політики незгоди. З'ясовано ключове значення протесту в утворенні масових суспільних рухів. Наведено основні теоретичні підходи щодо визначення сутності феномену та поняття «суспільний рух». Досліджено етапи розвитку сучасних протестних рухів та їх ключове значення в політичному житті Сполучених Штатів Америки.

Ключові слова: протест, суспільний рух, протестний рух, політика незгоди, колективна поведінка, Чарльз Тіллі, Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street, Tea Party movement, США, демократія.

Ткач Олег Иванович, доктор политических наук, профессор, профессор кафедры политологии, Киевский национальный университет имени Тараса Шевченко, Украина

Скрипченко Игорь Владимирович, аспирант кафедры политологии, Киевский национальный университет имени Тараса Шевченко, Украина

Современные протестные движения в США как предмет политологического исследования

Аннотация

В статье проанализированы основные подходы к определению и пониманию современных протестных движений в США. Определена роль политического протеста как одной из форм политики несогласия. Выяснено ключевое значение протеста в создании массовых общественных движений. Приведены основные теоретические подходы к определению сущности понятия и феномена «общественное движение». Исследованы этапы развития современных протестных движений и их ключевое значение в политической жизни Соединенных Штатов Америки.

Ключевые слова: протест, общественное движение, протестное движение, политика несогласия, коллективное поведение, Чарльз Тилли, Black Lives Matter, Occupy Wall Street, Tea Party movement, США, демократия.

Formulation of the problem

The storming of the United States Capitol building on January 6, 2021 by supporters of Donald Trump and the mass protests that took place throughout the summer of 2020 forced many researchers to pay attention to the reasons that led to these political phenomena. Mass protest movements became the key collective actors in these events. In the last decade, it was they who influenced and often determined the key directions of developing political and social life in the USA.

Modern studies of sociologists and political scientists testify to the global intensification of protest movements at the current stage of history. Researchers note a significant increase in the number of protests since 2006, especially highlighting the year 2008, when the global economic crisis began. Coinciding with the rapid development of social networks, this caused a massive mobilization of citizens to protect their rights and freedoms as well as challenge the decisions of state authorities. The United States of America was no exception and was one of the leading countries in the formation of mass protest movements. And some protest movements like Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter have become widely known around the world, where mass actions have been held in their support. Therefore, a detailed study of modern protest movements in the USA is necessary to understand the current and future development of political events. Especially considering the increased level of polarization in American society, which is still observed in the country.

Analysis of recent research and publications

The article examines modern studies of protest activity in the world and, in particular, in the United States of America. Special mention should be made of modern studies of protest movements, which are highlighted in the works of I. Ortiz, S. Burke, M. Berrada, E. S. Cortes, K.-D. Opp, T. V. Reed, G. Satell, S. Popovic, J. M. Larson. The article also cites the works of social movement theorists: H. Blumer, N. Smelser, M. N. Zald, J.D. McCarthy, C. Tilly, A. Touraine, and G. Sharp. Articles by Ukrainian researchers K. Shapoval and H. Berestova were also used.

The purpose of the article is modern protest movements in the United States of America as a subject of political science research.

Presenting main material

In order to study the phenomenon of protest movements in detail, we must first define the concept of protest. Protest is an integral part of social and political life in developed democratic countries. According to the Ukrainian researcher K. Shapoval, the term «protest» comes from the Latin word «protestare», which means to prove, to confirm; solemnly declare, testify, deny [1, p. 58]. German researcher Karl-Dieter Opp defines a protest as «joint (i.e., collective) action of individuals aimed at achieving their goal or goals by influencing the decision of the target» [2, p. 38]. American researcher of social movements T.V. Reed points out that the Latin root «protestare» also means an etymological connection with the concepts of publicness and witness. So, taking part in a protest means, according to Reed, to offer public testimony of one's position [3, p. 13].

The very phenomenon of protest involves the unification of citizens to publicly deny and contest certain norms or actions that exist in the state or in its institutions. However, taking into account the exceptional publicity of the protest and the appeal of its participants to the authorities, it can be argued that most of the protests are political in one way or another. Even if the participants of the protest do not use the political symbols of individual parties. After all, it will be the representatives of the authorities who will decide and consider citizens' dissatisfaction. However, a protest can also be in the middle of a separate enterprise, for example, if it is a strike. Therefore, for a more precise definition of protest as actions of a group of people to challenge and change existing norms in social institutions, the term «political protest» is also used. Ukrainian researcher Hanna Berestova defines «political protest» as «an individual or group form of political participation, which consists in expressing disagreement and contention with a political course or a specific political decision, which arises in response to the violation of the rightsand freedoms of a person and a citizen by authorities» [4, p. 227].

In the definition of Hanna Berestova, it is possible to single out a key concept that characterizes the nature of protest. This is the concept of «contentious». American sociologist and political scientist Charles Tilly focused his research on the politics of contentious. He defined the «contentious politics» as «an interactions in which actors make claims bearing on someone else's interests, in which governments appear either as targets, initiators of claims, or third parties» [5, p. 5]. According to Tilly, the contentious politics unites 3 closely related features of social life: contention, collective action and politics [5, p. 5]. But the contentious politics is a broad concept and includes many forms of disagreement in the political process. The activities of terrorist groups that carry out terrorist attacks due to dissatisfaction with existing political institutions will also be a manifestation of the contentious politics. After all, terrorist groups correspond to all three signs given by Tilly. Therefore, political protest is only one form of the contentious politics.

Protests can take different forms. The Ukrainian Society Research Center divides political protests into the following types [4, p. 228]:

conventional - generally accepted forms of protests that do not directly affect the targets of the protest. Such protests include rallies, pickets, demonstrations;

confrontational - protest actions that involve a direct impact on the targets of the protest, but are not accompanied by the task of direct harm to people or property. Such forms of protest include blocking the work of some institutions, blocking traffic, strikes, hunger strikes;

violent - protest actions with the purpose or threat of direct harm to people or property.

The famous political scientist Gene Sharp, the founder of the Albert Einstein Institution, singled out 198 methods of nonviolent protests [6]. Researchers: IsabelOrtiz, Sara Burke, Mohamed Berrada, Hernan Saenz Cortes, in their large-scale study of world protests, supplemented Sharpe's classification and singled out 250methods of nonviolent protests [7, p. 124]. Peaceful protests, according to the authors, are a fundamental sign of a viable democracy [7, p. 4]. Institutionalized structures such as political parties, movements and other socio-political entities can participate in political protests. However, as socio-historical practice shows, political protest is one of the most common forms of activity specifically for socialmovements. Therefore, for further research, we need to understand why they play a key role in political protests, especially in the modern historical period of the United States of America.

The very term «social movement» was first used by the German philosopher and sociologist Lorenz von Stein in his work «History of French social movements from 1789 to the present» in 1850 [8, p. 5]. It was the time when the industrial revolution and the development of labor movements took place. It was these movements that von Stein studied, determining their influence on the change of the social structure in France.

Social movements as a variety and at the same time a part of collective behavior began to be actively investigated from the middle of the 20th century. The first fundamental theories of the phenomenon of social movements were defined by American sociologists. One of the first theorists of the study of collective behavior in the humanities, the sociologist Herbert Blumerdefined a social movement as «a collective enterprise to establish a new order of life» [9, p. 199]. In turn, sociologist Neil Smelser, complementing Blumer, defined collective behavior itself as «mobilization on the basis of a belief which redefines social action» [10, p. 8]. But researchers of the theory of collective behavior, although they used the concept of social movement, often studied all possible forms of collective behavior that did not belong to the sphere of activity of social movements.

American sociologists Mayer N. Zald and John D. McCarthy made a significant contribution to distinguishing social movements as a separate subject of research in sociology and political science. They focused on the nature of the formation of social movements as organized and formalized structures of civil society to protect group interests. A social movement, as defined by Zald and McCarthy, «is a set of opinions and beliefs in a population which represents preferences for changing some elements of the social structure and/or reward distribution of a society» [11, p. 1217-1218].The social movement in its essence included elements of preferences and organized actions for change [11, p. 1219].

Herbert Blumer, as well as Neil Smelser, Mayer N. Zald and John D. McCarthy are attributed to the so-called «American paradigm» in the study of social movements. And in all definitions, we can follow that the goal of a social movement is a partial or complete change of the social structure, that is, social institutions. Although the «European paradigm» offers other approaches to the study of the nature of social movements, it gives an almost similar definition to the concept of «social movement». Thus, one of the founders of the European paradigm and the theory of «new social movements», the French sociologist Alain Touraine defined a social movement as «the conflict action of agents of the social classes struggling for control of the system of historical action» [12, p. 298]. AlainTouraine understands the system of historical actions, which is still often called «historicity» in Ukrainian scientific literature, as a means of forming the practice of social behavior, which can also be interpreted as social norms established in a certain historical period. It follows that historicity, as a resource, belongs to the ruling elite, which manages it and establishes it for others. That is why Touraine emphasizes the conflict, because social movements enter into the process of contesting the norms established by the government in the state.

The American sociologist and political scientist Ch. Tilly notes that the formation of social movements began in the second half of the 18th century. Charles Tilly, analyzing the history of the creation of social movements, claims that the term «social movement» was used quite widely and included quite different social organizations. In his opinion, this contributed to the fact that the term became sufficiently «blurred». Therefore, for a greater systematization of this concept, Tilly defines three main components that determine the nature and understanding of social movements [8, p. 7]:

Campaigns for submitting collective demands to authorities.

An array of claim-making performances including special-purpose associations, public meetings, media statements, and demonstrations.

Public representations of the cause's worthiness, unity, numbers, and commitment.

Comparing the American and European paradigms in defined concepts of social movement, we can claim that a social movement is an association of citizens who seek a complete or partial change of existing norms in society and the state. At the same time, using Ch. Tilly's approach to the key elements of social movements, we can note that one of the main features of a social movement is its publicity. That is why protests are one of the most common forms of activity for social movements. After all, as T.V. Reed noted, protest is a form of public witness of collections of people. It is this fact that can explain why social movements that actively participate in public actions are often called protest. For example, the American researcher Jennifer M. Larson in her study considers protests as an integral part of social movements and characterizes them as an act of cooperation between a group of people that occurs «when a sufficiently large number of people cooperate, assuming costs and potential risks, instead of free to use the efforts and achievements of otherpeople» [13, p. 91]. In general, in the scientific literature, protest is more often considered as the main form of activity of social movements.

However, some researchers distinguish between the concepts of «social movement» and «protest group». German sociologist Karl-Dieter Opp defines the protest group as «a collectivity of actors who want to achieve their shared goal or goals by influencing decisions of a target» [2, p. 41]. Instead, the social movement K.-D. Opp defines it as «a type of protest group with several distinguishing characteristics such as size and degree of organization» [2, p. 44]. Thus, Opp singles out a social movement as a special kind of protest group. Thus, Opp singles out a social movement as a special kind of protest group. Based on the approach of K.-D. Opp, we can determine that the key point in the activity of a social movement is protest activity. Researcher T.V. Reed, in turn, points out that social movements, unlike institutionalized political actors such as parties or lobby groups, seek to effect social change through sustained protests. So when protests are repeated and become sustainable as a strategic set of actions, then we can talk about the formation of a social movement [3, p. 13].

So, we can state that it is the protest that becomes the starting point for the creation of a social movement. After all, according to the theory of collective action, N. Smelzer noted that before mobilizing people in groups to express their special public position, the presence of structural tension is necessary, which determines the presence of a conflict of interests in society [10, p. 15]. Researchers Greg Satell and Srdja Popovyc claim that protest not only plays an important role for society, giving it the opportunity to express its disapproval of certain phenomena. But the protest itself is the main foundation for creating change and for starting new movements that will defend it. However, the authors note that protests, as the first stage for the creation of a social movement, do not always end in success [14]. However, it can be said with almost complete certainty that protest is the starting point for every social movement. For example, Zald and McCarthy also noted that organizations that do not represent social movements at the time of their creation can also be considered social movements [11, p. 1218]. That is, we can add that a group of like-minded people can form an organized movement already during protests.

Although social movements are usually the driving force behind most protests, other collective actors can join such movements, for example as activists of certain political parties or non-government organizations. For example, the authors of thestudy of world protests I. Ortiz, S. Burke, M. Berrada, E.S. Cortes also singles outthe various collective actors involved in the protests [7]. Therefore, for a more convenient presentation of the material, they use the concept of «protest movements». This concept refers to various movements and organizations that took part in mass and public protests in different countries of the world.

According to a large-scale study of protests in the world conducted by I. Ortiz, S. Burke, M. Berrada, E.S. Cortes, it was found that since 2006, the number of protest movements has increased almost threefold [7]. This trend did not escape the United States either. The onset of the economic crisis in 2008 had an impact on the activation of the Tea Party movement, which opposed a significant increase in public spending to combat the economic crisis. The movement began to gain popularity among Americans in 2009, after a series of mass protests in various cities of the United States. In the course of mass protests, the Tea Party movement underwent a process of institutionalization within the US Republican Party. At the 2010 US Congressional elections, 138 congressmen were elected, who were officially supported by activists of the Tea Party movement within the Republican Party. Of these, 129 were elected to the House of Representatives, and 9 to the US Senate [15]. According to polls by the newspaper «The Wall Street Journal» and the TV channel «NBC News» a month before the election, 35% of voters in the USA were supporters of the movement [16]. This helped Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives. The movement had an equally important influence on the Republican Party primaries in the 2016 presidential election. Donald Trump and Ted Cruz were supported by activists of the Tea Party, which allowed them to become the leaders of the race within the party.

Also, in 2011, the Occupy Wall Street movement gained significant popularity. The mass protest that began on September 17, 2011 turned into a long picket. Protesters set up a tent camp in Zuccotti Park downtown New York City. Mass actions in support of the movement were held in other US cities and in many world capitals. The protesters demanded to reduce the influence of large corporations on the economy and make them pay fair taxes.

The authors of the study note that in the global dimension, the protest wave over time was increasingly represented by left- and right-wing populist movements. They emit two waves. The first wave lasted chronologically from 2008 to 2012. This wave professed the ideas of anti-authoritarianism and left-wing economic populism [7, p. 83-84]. However, we can argue that in the United States this wave was represented by both the left-wing economic populism of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the right-wing economic populism represented by the Tea Party movement.

According to the authors, the second wave began in 2013 and continues to this day. This wave is characterized by the growth of nationalism, the spread of movements that condemn the political systems in their countries. Ideas about the existence of the «deep state», which is bureaucratic institutions and big business that conspired against the middle class in order to obtain excess profits, also became widespread during this period [7, p. 84; 17]. However, speaking of the United States, we can state that in 2013, the movements that espoused such ideas had not yet gained mass popularity and spread. Instead, this period saw the decline of the Occupy Wall Street movement. The growth of the wave of right-wing radical populism in the USA began much later than in Europe, and chronologically dates back to 2015-2016.

The reason for the spread of radical right-wing movements was the emergence of a mass and influential Black Lives Matter movement. It arose in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman by a jury in Florida for the murder of 17-year-old African-American Trayvon Martin. Community activists Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi organized protests using the #blacklivesmatter hashtag on social media. It was this hashtag that became the name of a new mass protest movement that has an influence on American politics to this day. Influential American politicians from the Democratic Party and US President Barack Obama have repeatedly met with the organizers of BLM. And in the 2020 congressional elections, one of the activists of the movement, Cori Bush, was elected to the House of Representatives, also from the Democratic Party.

In 2014, after the killing of an African-American Michael Brown by a police officer, the city of Ferguson was engulfed in mass protests that turned into pogroms and vandalism. Footage of the riots in the city was spread by all mass media. The riots in Ferguson led to the emergence of new and revival of old far-right movements. During the election race in 2016, polarization in the US only intensified, which contributed to the increase in street protests.

The peak of violent protests was in 2017, when mass clashes between radical right and left movements took place in the city of Charlottesville. In Charlottesville there were activists from both old radical movements and new ones. Old left movements include Antifa, Showing Up for Racial Justice, The Industrial Workers of the World (also often called the Wobblies), old right movements were represented by the Ku Klux Klan, the League of the South, and smaller groups of neo-Nazis. New left movements included Black Lives Matter and Redneck Revolt. New rightwing movements were represented by The Traditionalist Youth Network, Vanguard America, Traditionalist Worker Party, Proud Boys [18, p. 312]. Although the organizers of the Proud Boys publicly refused to participate in this rally, some of their members were still in Charlottesville. As a result of mass clashes between these movements, 1 person died and another 35 got injuries of varying degree [19].

After Charlottesville, protests in the United States continued, but no longer had a pronounced violent form. This continued until 2020, when after the death of George Floyd while detained by the police, new mass protests by Black Lives Matter and other leftist protest movements began. In some cities, the protests again turned into mass riots and vandalism. Counter-protests of right-wing and left-wing movements arose in some cities. And already on January 6, 2021, supporters of Donald Trump, including activists of far-right movements, stormed the United States Capitol building.

All these events demonstrate how important a role protest movements played in the US political process. Therefore, a detailed study of the peculiarities of the formation and activity of these movements gives us the opportunity to understand the reasons for today's unstable state of the US political system. Summing up, we can also determine that modern protest movements in the USA are mass social movements and other social formations of a pronounced right-wing and left-wing ideological orientation, which oppose groups and structures that have the power to make political decisions.

Conclusions

Summing up, we can note that modern protest movements are important political actors in the US political system. They raise important issues for society that influence and sometimes determine the political course of the United States. In the research, we found out that this is connected with the very essence of the phenomenon of political protest and social movements. After all, social movements by their very nature are a collective of like-minded people who strive for changes and improvement of existing social institutions.

It was also established that protests are one of the forms of contentious politics. However, unlike many different forms of the politics of contentious, protest is fundamentally peaceful. He fulfills the task of publicly certifying the opinion of people regarding certain norms that exist in the state and society. Prosthetic movements actually become a direct communicator between civil society and state authorities. However, in conditions of economic crisis and growing polarization insociety, protest movements can become radicalized. In the article, we found out that protest movements in the USA went through several stages of development. In the first phase, from 2009 to 2013, US political life was dominated by the Tea Party movement and Occupy Wall Street, which used peaceful protests. However, in the second phase, starting in 2014 and continuing to this day, we are witnessing the emergence and growth of radical protest movements that often use violent forms of protest. Therefore, further studies of modern protest movements in the USA willallow us to find out how the authorities should react to the actions of protest movements in order to prevent their further radicalization.

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