Communicatively Navigating Identities, Silence, and Social Protest

Abstract

Social protests in the United States of America (U.S.) are increasing in frequency, including the Dakota Access pipeline protests, the Women's March in 2017 and 2018, and March for our Lives. Thousands of other protests have also emerged across digital platforms and in interpersonal contexts. This study explores the identity work processes individuals navigate as they engage with or avoid social protest. I conducted interviews with self-identified protesters who discussed the complexities of their experiences. Using CTI and identity gaps, dialogical wisdom are introduced to deepen this analysis. This scholarship provides insights for those interested in the interplay between individual identities and protest, as well how multiple identities and the gaps between them can address conflict.

A case study about a student-centered grassroots organization : the Providence Student Union and participatory politics

“…This shift also ushered in an era of transnational activism and the claim that global citizenship will promote greater global unity and equality of rights (Pallas, 2012). In many parts of the world, youths have taken qualitative and quantitative research, webinars, and social media posts (Jacoby, 2017;Compton, 2019). However, even with a rich history of activism and bountiful research on the topic, social movements have long been considered objects of knowledge for researchers and academics, rather than producers of knowledge in their own right (Chesters, 2012).…”

“…Since 2012, there has been a particular resurgence of activism on American campuses in response to racism and inequality as has been seen in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement(Byrd, 2019;Gismondi & Osteen, 2017). A number of protests related to gun violence(Mahtani, 2018;Compton, 2019), immigration policies(DeAngelo, Schuster, & Stebleton, 2016), climate change and environmental concerns(Sawchuk, 2019;Kakenmaster, 2019), and gender rights(Montgomery & Stewart, 2012;Conlin & Heesacker, 2018) have evolved into potent movements. Since the election of Donald Trump in 2016, the resurgence of activism has elicited increased attention in the forms of conferences,…”