PS 310 - Protest and Mobilization in Authoritarian Regimes

(3.00 cr.)

Popular movements and protests mobilize aggrieved citizens under repressive authoritarian regimes but they face a number of obstacles to success. Activists seek to fashion slogans that resonate with the discontented, employ new communication technologies to outflank regime controls, and draw supporters from the existing collectives in society. What explains how these movements get off the ground, how they develop over time, and what outcomes they achieve? Students examine the challenges of high-risk activism in authoritarian regimes by drawing on cases from different time periods and regions of the world: the Arab Spring in the Middle East, the 1989 Tiananmen Square movement in China, and the mobilizations in Eastern Europe that sparked the fall of Communism, among others.

Sessions Typically Offered: Varies
Years Typically Offered: Varies

Interdisciplinary Studies: GT/IPJ