Nice thread here! It’s incredibly important for thinking about violence and protest tactics. What counts as violence depends on who is protesting and who is observing those protests. So, one-size-fits-all judgments about whether specific tactics “work” would definitely benefit from more skepticism.

All of L.A. is not a ‘war zone.’ We separate facts from spin and disinformation amid immigration raids What's actually happening during the ICE sweeps and protests across Los Angeles.

7. Bottom line: tactics matter but so do our own biases when observing and reacting to resistance. Worth approaching coverage with skepticism and holding media accountable.
www.latimes.com/california/s...

6. This bias is amplified by media accounts, with media (including liberal media!) evoking threat when covering protests by people of color @laginagause.bsky.social www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

5. Discussions of effectiveness should also be mindful of the fact that ethnic/racial minorities, as well as their grievances, are perceived as more violent by the public even when peaceful, since perceptions are biased, e.g. my work with @tmitts.bsky.social here:. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

4. For example, @laginagause.bsky.social 's work suggests that disruptive protests among racial and ethnic minorities can lead to greater legislative responsiveness www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

3 When asking what's effective, important to remember for what and for whom. As nicely summarized in the editorial, a lot of research finds that violence has a negative effect on public opinion. Research is less clear on its effectiveness for other outcomes, though.

2. Research on unarmed, disruptive violence, such as seen in Los Angeles and elsewhere, is more ambiguous, as summarized by @chenoweth.bsky.social here:
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

1.@chenoweth.bsky.social & Stephan's data is often used to show nonviolence is more effective, but it compares armed to nonarmed violence, with nonarmed violence treated as nonviolent. The data also pertains to maximalist campaigns (e.g. revolutions), calling for caution in extrapolating results.

Excellent op-ed on nonviolent protest from @robbwiller.bsky.social and @owasow.bsky.social on the importance of nonviolence here www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/o.... Some additional points worth noting:

An important piece from the @apsrjournal.bsky.social (by @devorahmanekin.bsky.social and @tmitts.bsky.social) to make sense of ongoing events: it matters not only which tactics are adopted by protesters but also who they are.

Even a Mexican flag is being perceived/framed as violent.

bsky.app/profile/adam...

And we learned a lot from yours! They do matter, but our work suggests that peaceful tactics, by some groups, can be perceived as violent/threatening (others have found this re media framing). So I'd just note that tactics are not only a matter of activist choice but also of racialized perceptions.

Agreed, and as your work shows, there are other factors that matter here such as how the state responds.

and www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Is it a rally or a riot? Racialized media framing of 2020 protests in the United States This article draws on race relations arguments to explore the nexus between the media, race, and protest policing. The media’s coverage of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and protests opposing COVID-19 re...

see e.g. www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Yes, but tactics are perceived and covered through racialized lenses that frame them as threatening regardless of facts on the ground.

Jumping in with a favorite article, by Devorah Manekin and Tamara Mitts, which asks how ethnicity affects both the success of non-violent protests and the likelihood of observers judging a given protest as violent/non-violent. Spoilers: racialized folks can’t win. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

‬Big thanks to @devorahmanekin.bsky.social for an engaging talk on how affective polarization may shape nonviolent resistance!

Backsliding and Resistance in the United States – Ash Center In this webinar, Professors Erica Chenoweth and Steven Levitsky will discuss what can be learned from mobilization and opposition to autocracy in the United States based on historical examples, and wi...

Join @stevelevitsky.bsky.social & me on April 3 at 4pm ET. We’ll catch up on the current state of backsliding and resistance in the US. Register below.

Large, sustained anti-government and anti-war protests taking place in both Israel and in Gaza.

There are scores of anti Trump/DOGE/Musk protests planned for April 5 handsoff2025.com

Resistance is alive and well in the United States Protests of Trump may not look like the mass marches in 2017, but they're far more numerous and frequent — and also becoming more strategic.

@djpressman.bsky.social, Soha Hammam, and I draw on our research through the Crowd Counting Consortium to show that there is far more protest happening in the US than is commonly understood, and that the shift to economic noncooperation shows powerful potential for future collective action.

bsky.app/profile/reil... this is bonkers and deeply disturbing. Private security, DOJ, DOGE, and the DC police together worked to take control over a private building the government *does not own* and dismiss the staff *whom the president does not employ,* removing them, it seems, with armed force

Turkish police detain Erdoğan’s main political rival Lira and stocks fall as Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a key challenger to president, held

A crucial moment in global democratic backsliding

www.ft.com/content/c1a2...

I cannot overemphasize how important it is for you to contact your local papers and offer to give an interview about the protest you participated in.

We got three articles and counting in local papers this week because of cold calls and unsolicited letters to the editor.

Msafer yatta in the Oscar’s, and brilliant speeches by Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham!!! A million congratulations, and may their vision lead our way.

ברכות חמות ליובל אברה והצוות על הזכייה. נאומים מדהימים של באסל ויובל. הלוואי שנלך בדרך שהם מראים לנו.

More Republicans now believe that women should return to their traditional roles in society As of November 2024, almost half of Republican men agree, up from 28 percent in 2022. 50% agree 48% Republican men 37% Republican women 25% Democratic men 17% Democratic women 11% 2016 2018 2020 2022 Source: Views of the Electorate Research Survey 2024 ALT

Approaching majority opposition to basic 20th century second wave feminism among Republican men

If you sum it up, 49% of young German men voted for a right-leaning party, but only 28% of young women. Conversely, 59% of young women voted for a left-leaning party, but only 38% of young men. (BSW left out.)

Featuring work by my brilliant friend @decelles.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🚨 Postdoc Fellow at LSE in Political Behaviour 🚨

We're hiring a 2-3 year postdoc fellow at the LSE to join our great department (with some teaching in political behaviour and comparative European or EU politics)

Please spread the word and reach out with questions!
jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...