IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/joupea/v59y2022i6p794-809.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

High-risk participation: Demanding peace and justice amid criminal violence

Author

Listed:
  • Sandra Ley

    (Political Studies Division, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, Mexico City)

Abstract

When and why do citizens living amid criminal violence pour into the streets to demand peace and justice, regardless of the risks that protesting in such a context may entail? While victimization experiences provide an initial motivation for participation in protests, this article finds that social networks play a fundamental role for mobilization against insecurity. At an emotional level, socialization within networks helps transform the feelings of individual fear that crime evokes into collective anger that represents potential for action. As individuals become more engaged with one another, their feelings are transformed from being exclusively self-oriented towards other-oriented. Additionally, denser network interactions insulate participants from coercion and generate support mechanisms for their members, creating a sense of security. Thus, networks have the power to transform perceptions of the risks and effectiveness associated with their collective action against crime. Supporting evidence for this argument is derived from original survey data collected in Mexico in 2012. Additionally, in-depth interviews with protest participants reveal the mechanisms through which social networks stimulate protest participation, among both victims and non-victims. This article contributes to the prevailing literature on victimization and political participation and provides new answers on when and how experience with violence can encourage involvement in politics and promote democratic accountability.

Suggested Citation

  • Sandra Ley, 2022. "High-risk participation: Demanding peace and justice amid criminal violence," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 59(6), pages 794-809, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:joupea:v:59:y:2022:i:6:p:794-809
    DOI: 10.1177/00223433221085441
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00223433221085441
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00223433221085441?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bateson, Regina, 2012. "Crime Victimization and Political Participation," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 106(3), pages 570-587, August.
    2. Shesterinina, Anastasia, 2016. "Collective Threat Framing and Mobilization in Civil War," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 110(3), pages 411-427, August.
    3. King, Gary & Zeng, Langche, 2001. "Logistic Regression in Rare Events Data," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 137-163, January.
    4. Bellows, John & Miguel, Edward, 2009. "War and local collective action in Sierra Leone," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(11-12), pages 1144-1157, December.
    5. Finnemore, Martha & Sikkink, Kathryn, 1998. "International Norm Dynamics and Political Change," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(4), pages 887-917, October.
    6. Young, Lauren E., 2019. "The Psychology of State Repression: Fear and Dissent Decisions in Zimbabwe," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 113(1), pages 140-155, February.
    7. Blattman, Christopher, 2009. "From Violence to Voting: War and Political Participation in Uganda," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 103(2), pages 231-247, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Denny,Elaine Kathryn & Dow,David & Levy,Gabriella & Villamizar-Chaparro,Mateo, 2022. "Extortion and Civic Engagement among Guatemalan Deportees," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10020, The World Bank.
    2. Dominic Rohner & Mathias Thoenig, 2021. "The Elusive Peace Dividend of Development Policy: From War Traps to Macro Complementarities," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 13(1), pages 111-131, August.
    3. Eamon Aloyo & Geoff Dancy & Yvonne Dutton, 2023. "Retributive or reparative justice? Explaining post-conflict preferences in Kenya," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 60(2), pages 258-273, March.
    4. Huber, Martin & Tyahlo, Svitlana, 2016. "How war affects political attitudes: evidence from eastern Ukraine," FSES Working Papers 472, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Freiburg/Fribourg Switzerland.
    5. Christopher Blattman & Edward Miguel, 2010. "Civil War," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(1), pages 3-57, March.
    6. Olivier Sterck, 2020. "Fighting for Votes: Theory and Evidence on the Causes of Electoral Violence," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 87(347), pages 844-883, July.
    7. Francisco Villamil, 2021. "Mobilizing memories: The social conditions of the long-term impact of victimization," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 58(3), pages 399-416, May.
    8. infocede, 2014. "Local Institutions and Armed Group Presence in Colombia," Documentos CEDE 20112, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    9. Gabriel Fuentes Cordoba, 2021. "Growing up in a civil war and political participation: Evidence from Guatemala," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(2), pages 197-225, April.
    10. Tellez,Juan Fernando & Balcells,Laia, 2022. "Social Cohesion, Economic Security, and Forced Displacement in the Long-Run : Evidencefrom Rural Colombia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10019, The World Bank.
    11. Kevin M. Morrison & Marc Rockmore, 2016. "Fear and Political Participation: Evidence from Africa," HiCN Working Papers 226, Households in Conflict Network.
    12. Paul Frijters, 2001. "Unemployment benefits and educational choices," School of Economics and Finance Discussion Papers and Working Papers Series 099a, School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology.
    13. Rehman, Faiz Ur & Vanin, Paolo, 2017. "Terrorism risk and democratic preferences in Pakistan," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 95-106.
    14. Gabriela Okundaye & John Ishiyama & Andrea Silva, 2022. "Premigratory political experiences with autocracy and violence and immigrants’ willingness to vote," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 103(5), pages 1032-1047, September.
    15. Accetturo, Antonio & Bugamelli, Matteo & Lamorgese, Andrea R., 2017. "Law enforcement and political participation: Italy, 1861–65," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 224-245.
    16. Muhsin Ali & Karim Khan, 2023. "Violent Conflict and Informal Institutions: Evidence from a Civil Conflict in Pakistan (Article)," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 62(2), pages 235-264.
    17. Markus Freitag & Sara Kijewski & Malvin Oppold, 2019. "War experiences, economic grievances, and political participation in postwar societies: An empirical analysis of Kosovo," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 36(4), pages 405-424, July.
    18. Gangadharan, Lata & Islam, Asad & Ouch, Chandarany & Wang, Liang Choon, 2022. "The long-term effects of genocide on antisocial preferences," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    19. Ferguson, Neil T.N. & Leroch, Martin Alois, 2023. "On the behavioral impacts of violence: Evidence from incentivized games in Kenya," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:joupea:v:59:y:2022:i:6:p:794-809. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.prio.no/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.