The Politics of Ignoring: Protest Dynamics in Late Mubarak Egypt

Abstract

I propose the concept of “ignoring” to capture situations in which government officials appear dismissive (either through inaction or contempt) of popular mobilization. The concept refers not only to actions by regime officials but also captures protesters' perceptions of those actions. Examples of ignoring include not communicating with protesters, issuing condescending statements, physically evading protesters, or acting with contempt toward popular mobilization. Existing conceptual tools do not adequately capture these dynamics. Although repression and concessions have been extensively theorized, scholars lack conceptual tools to understand responses that fall short of both repression and concessions. I introduce the concept of “ignoring” as a useful tool to focus on a subset of actions on the part of regime officials who are the targets of mobilization, with discernible consequences for subsequent mobilization. Drawing on research on the role of emotions in protest politics and on framing and social movements, I argue that ignoring protests can trigger emotional responses that encourage people to engage in protest, such as anger, indignation, and outrage. By integrating protesters' perceptions of the behavior of the targets of mobilization, not just of the security forces, the concept of “ignoring” helps explain protesters' reactions and their future mobilization, in a way that conventional concepts such as tolerance cannot capture. This analysis has important implications for broader theoretical debates on the relationship between regime response to protests and subsequent mobilization. Most importantly, it urges scholars to consider how ignoring can interact with other responses to mobilization, thereby altering the dynamics of the infamous the “concession-repression dilemma.” I use evidence from workers' protests in late Mubarak Egypt to illustrate these dynamics.

Disguised Collective Action in China

“…Even if all of these conditions are favorable, there is still a possibility that officials or factory management may call the bluff of worker threatening to take action and ignore the challenge. After all, official inaction-the purposeful ignoring of popular protest-is a common response to popular contenders in many authoritarian states (Bishara, 2015), and it is easier to ignore an individual contender than a mass of protestors. Thus, atomized actions are far from foolproof tactics to secure gains under any condition.…”

Neither Repression Nor Concession? A Regime’s Attrition against Mass Protests

“…This value-laden term can grossly distort reality, as regimes are often hostile to protests because they threaten regime legitimacy and survival. To rectify the conceptual weakness of toleration, Dina Bishara (2015) proposes 'ignoring' as a more analytically specific concept to capture instances in which regimes appear dismissive towards protests through either inaction or contempt. Bishara argues that ignoring, as perceived by protesters, could fuel mobilisation by generating anger, outrage and indignation and drive protesters to develop new collective identities.…”

Revolutionary mass uprisings in authoritarian regimes

“…The rationale for employing a rather narrow definition is straightforward: opposition activism and mobilization for public protests are regular occurrences in politics, certainly in democracies, but also in many of the more liberal non-democratic regimes. Hence, incumbents across regime types will have developed routine measures to respond to, and contain, such events, including swift repression using regular police forces, tactical concessions, or the simple ignoring of popular demands (Bishara, 2015; Franklin, 2009). Revolutionary mass uprisings are rare incidents.…”