Individual participation in street demonstrations

Protest participation has become normalized and all sorts of people resort to protest to demand social and political change. Participation in street demonstrations is the prototypical protest activity of citizens today. This chapter focuses on participation in street demonstrations, it first defines and conceptualizes the phenomenon; what is a street demonstration and how can it be distinguished from other gatherings such as riots and hooliganism? Next, focus is on the individual demonstrator: who is s/he, why does s/he participate, and how is s/he mobilized? Individual participation in demonstrations is the consequence of an interaction between individual and collective actors such as parties, interest groups and movement organizations. To illustrate this interaction the concepts of demand, supply and mobilization are used. Then the question how to investigate participation in street demonstrations. In doing so, the chapter distinguishes between methods that focus on the study of the protest events, and methods that focus on the participants. The conclusion raises methodological issues and challenges how scholars have studied the motives and recruitment techniques that bring individuals to a demonstration.