Economic globalization, inequality, and protest movements under capitalist political regimes, 1970–2007

Abstract

This article examines the impacts of globalization on protest movements. Highlighting the nature of capitalist political regimes in which capitalist societies and political institutions are deeply interconnected, I argue that the relationship between globalization and protest is profoundly constrained by two domestic conditions: the distribution of material resources and the type of political regime. Based on time-series, cross-sectional (TSCS) data in a global sample for the period 1970–2007, the findings indicate that globalization is more likely to increase protest in egalitarian democracies; globalization is not systematically associated with protest under dictatorships, except in the case of a highly unequal dictatorship in which globalization appears to revitalize protest, and hyperglobalization radically diminishes the possibility of protest, especially in democracies.

The Volatility of Collective Action: Theoretical Analysis and Empirical Data

“…Yet clearly, behind the proximal predictors within individuals' heads, multiple levels of analysis are relevant (Louis, La Macchia, et al, 2016). Higher-level analyses in political science, social movement studies, political communication, sociology, and other disciplines have demonstrated relevance to political change (e.g., Andits, 2016;Bennett & Iyengar, 2008;Kim, 2016;Monaghan & Walby, 2012;Siegel, 2009;Stock, 2014).…”

“…We have barely touched on these points in some of the commentary above about alternative forms of collective action. A more comprehensive analysis of the volatility of alternative forms of action, especially in states that are not Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democracies, would be valuable in future research (see also, Kim, 2016;van Zomeren & Louis, 2017).…”