Ritual Demonstrations versus Reactive Protests: Participation Across Mobilizing Contexts in Mexico City

Abstract

Using an innovative survey of protest participants and nonparticipants from five major street demonstrations in Mexico City in 2011 and 2012, this study tests the assumption that influences on protest participation vary across different types of events; namely, ritual demonstrations and reactive protests. The comparison is based on two assumptions: that these are two of the dominant forms of protest in contemporary Latin America, and that specifying the context for different types of social movement participation provides a better understanding of the individual mobilization process for groups seeking to defend their rights or gain new benefits. The comparative analyses reveal some crucial differences. Political interest and previous political experience are more influential in the decision to take part in reactive demonstrations. For ritual demonstrations, the decision to participate tends to be driven more by personal and organizational connections.

Everyday Streets

“…This study understands public rituals as 'social practices that generate common knowledge' (Chwe 2013, 13). Public rituals have been divided into 'ritual demonstrations', or expected celebratory processions and commemorations, and 'reactive protests', which are less structured and sometimes adversarial (Inclán and Almeida 2017). However, in assessing the public rituals that occur on O'Connell Street, three categories emerge: commemoration, display and dissent.…”

“…This includes the annual commemoration of the Easter Rising on Easter Sunday, which is a formal and highly organised repetitive ritual to remember past contentions. The plaza opposite the GPO is appropriate for such 'ritual demonstrations' (Inclán and Almeida 2017), as the backdrop immediately associates the commemoration with the Irish struggle r i t ua L s o f o'Co n n e L L s t r e e t for freedom and provokes memories among viewers. The collective public memory of the space has allowed O'Connell Street to become a 'memory palace'.…”

“…It is almost never excluded from parade spectacles, no matter the specific route through the city. Display rituals, also 'ritual demonstrations' (Inclán and Almeida 2017), use O'Connell Street as a space in which to be seen, in which ideas and identities can be presented to the public (Parkinson 2012). The rituals that take place vary from repetitive to singular actions, from demonstrations such as the St Patrick's Day parade, the final stage of the Irish cycling race Rás, a festival announcement or the switching on of the Christmas lights.…”

“…However, in contrast to the displays and commemorations discussed earlier, they can be confrontational and lead to a riot-like atmosphere (Edwards 2006) due to their often unstructured and antagonistic nature. Protest serves to communicate displeasure, and while 'space structures protest' (Azlan 2018, 50) one cannot ignore the antisocial and unpublic nature of many of these 'reactive protests' (Inclán and Almeida 2017) such as the 2006 riots on O'Connell Street that resulted in numerous hospitalisations and arrests. Removing the right to gather on O'Connell Street would remove its ritual aspect and remove the potential spontaneity of meetings, demonstrations and protests.…”

Immigrant rights and social movements

“…We incorporate existing studies on the correlates of movement participation in general to immigrant‐based collective action. In particular, we review the micro‐mobilization contexts of social networks, social media, organizational affiliations, and identities of participants and non‐participants (Inclán & Almeida, ). In the ideational sphere of social movements, we examine how immigrants convey their messages to multiple audiences via a series of collective action frames (Snow, Benford, McCammon, Hewitt, & Fitzgerald, ).…”