IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cup/bjposi/v52y2022i2p869-885_19.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Interaction of Structural Factors and Diffusion in Social Unrest: Evidence from the Swing Riots

Author

Listed:
  • Aidt, Toke
  • Leon-Ablan, Gabriel

Abstract

Studies of the causes of social unrest typically focus on structural factors or diffusion. This article demonstrates the importance of considering their interaction and reveals a complex interplay between the two. This interaction is examined in the context of the English Swing riots of 1830–1831, in which it is possible to observe the structural factors relevant to each specific incident; this is often impossible when analyzing more recent cases of unrest. The authors find that the riots were triggered by economic factors and that diffusion more than tripled the direct effect of changes in local factors. Economic factors and the presence of potential riot leaders made an area more susceptible to the incoming diffusion of riots. The ways in which structural factors and diffusion interact is relevant to both historical and recent instances of social unrest.

Suggested Citation

  • Aidt, Toke & Leon-Ablan, Gabriel, 2022. "The Interaction of Structural Factors and Diffusion in Social Unrest: Evidence from the Swing Riots," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(2), pages 869-885, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:bjposi:v:52:y:2022:i:2:p:869-885_19
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0007123420000873/type/journal_article
    File Function: link to article abstract page
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Niklas Potrafke & Felix Roesel, 2022. "Online Versus Offline: Which Networks Spur Protests?," CESifo Working Paper Series 9969, CESifo.
    2. Valentín Figueroa & Vasiliki Fouka, 2023. "Structural Transformation and Value Change: The British Abolitionist Movement," CESifo Working Paper Series 10662, CESifo.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:cup:bjposi:v:52:y:2022:i:2:p:869-885_19. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Kirk Stebbing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cambridge.org/jps .

    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.