Mixing with the crowd: How mobilization affects diversity in demonstrations
Résumé
The internal diversity of demonstrations speaks to fundamental debates about voice and equality, solidarity, social capital, and social movement success—yet is rarely empirically investigated. We study how mobilization distinguishes between internally diverse and homogenous demonstrations in terms of education and class. We use unique protest survey data from 16,134 participants in 76 demonstrations in nine European countries. We find that mobilization processes explain variation in internal diversity for education but hardly for class. Whereas informal mobilization decreases internal diversity, organizations’ involvement increases diversity. Diversity is also negatively affected by the presence of transmitters—protesters who are both asked to participate and who ask others. This homogenizing impact of transmitters is more pronounced in demonstrations more strongly dominated by informal mobilization processes. Our findings support recent arguments against the association between informal mobilization and demonstration diversity and stress the enduring relevance of formal organizing.