Doctoral Dissertation Research in Political Science: Participation in Loyalist Protest Activities in Northern Ireland

目的：文化抗议行动是世界各地的政治行动者用来实现政治目标的，但现有的政治学理论并不能完全解释其动态。特别是，目前的文献没有解释为什么个人参与具有重大政治后果的行动，但不为参与者提供物质诱因，也不为非参与者提供社会惩罚。本论文的目的是了解谁选择参加政治相关的抗议行动，为什么。理论：为了解决政治科学文献中对文化抗议行动特征的处理不足的问题，本项目借鉴了文献中的两个关键发现。首先，文化活动不仅仅是“象征性的”，而是为参与者提供有意义的利益；其次，它们具有多重且模棱两可的含义。简而言之，这个论点是，个人选择参与文化活动，为他们提供有意义和愉快的好处，这是参与行为固有的。这与主流的集体行动和集体认同理论形成了鲜明对比，后者关注的是参与者的有益结果，而忽略了认同的内容。方法：本项目使用在北爱尔兰广泛的田野调查中收集的原始定量和定性数据，新教徒的传统抗议行动具有巨大的政治影响力。事实上，这些有争议的行动是当今宗派紧张和暴力的最大根源之一。定量数据将来自随机选择的抗议参与者和非参与者的两波调查，其中每个受访者将在2013年最大的抗议活动之前和之后接受采访。定性数据将来自深度访谈和对抗议活动的仔细观察。这些数据收集工作建立在最近三个多月的实地调查研究的基础上。智力价值：本研究综合了社会学和政治学中先前不同的研究方向，提出了一种关于政治集体行动和集体认同之间关系的新理论。政治专业的学生倾向于将身份作为一种静态的个人集合或一套信仰来研究，但集体身份是一种更丰富的现象，可以通过其他渠道影响政治。这篇论文将确定集体认同的其他方面之一——文化抗议行动——在政治上是如何以及为什么重要的。对这些行动的关注也将阐明政治集体行动的未充分研究的动态，例如情感过程，符号和集体身份在激励参与中的作用。更广泛的影响：预期的研究结果有可能改善对分裂性政治冲突的管理。在世界各地的分裂社会中，都可以找到文化抗议行动被用来分化群体的证据，但由于缺乏对其动态的了解，制定有效的政策解决方案受到阻碍。这项研究的结果将分发给北爱尔兰民间社会组织的成员，其中许多人已经对该项目表示了热情和兴趣。我们希望，向社区领袖和活动人士提供全面而严谨的结果，将有助于他们制定策略，尽量减少抗议活动的有害影响，同时仍然允许各群体享有文化表达的权利，这是一个健全的民主社会所固有和必要的。

Objectives: Cultural protest actions are used by political actors around the world to achieve political objectives, but existing political science theories cannot fully explain their dynamics. In particular, the current literature does not account for why individuals participate in actions that have significant political consequences but that do not offer material inducements for participants or social punishments for non-participants. The aim of this dissertation is understand who chooses to participate in politically-relevant protest actions and why.Theory: To address the inadequate treatment of the characteristics of cultural protest actions in the political science literature, this project draws on two key findings from the literature. First, cultural actions are not "merely symbolic," but provide meaningful benefits to participants; and second, they carry multiple and ambiguous meanings. Briefly, the argument is that individuals choose to participate in cultural actions that provide them with meaningful and enjoyable benefits that are intrinsic to the act of participation. This contrasts with prevailing theories of collective action and collective identity that focus on the beneficial outcomes for participants, and ignore the content of identities. Methods: This project uses original quantitative and qualitative data collected during extensive fieldwork in Northern Ireland, where traditional protest actions by Protestants carry enormous political weight. In fact, these controversial actions are one of the greatest sources of sectarian tension and violence today. The quantitative data will come from a two-wave survey of randomly selected protest participants and non-participants, where each respondent will be interviewed before and after the largest protests of 2013. The qualitative data will come from in-depth interviews and careful observation of protests. These data collection efforts build upon research conducted over three months of recent fieldwork. Intellectual Merit: The proposed research synthesizes previously disparate strands of research in sociology and political science to advance a novel theory about the relationship between political collective action and collective identity. Students of politics tend to study identities as a static collection of individuals or a set of beliefs, but collective identities are a richer phenomenon and can affect politics through other channels. This dissertation will identify how and why one of these other aspects of collective identity--cultural protest actions--matter politically. The focus on such actions will also illuminate understudied dynamics of political collective action, such as roles of emotional processes, symbols, and collective identities in motivating participation. Broader Impact: Anticipated research findings have the potential to improve the management of divisive political conflicts. Evidence of cultural protest actions being used to polarize groups can be found in divided societies throughout the world, but the creation of effective policy solutions is hindered by a lack of understanding about their dynamics. The findings of this research will be distributed to members of civil society organizations in Northern Ireland, many of whom have already expressed enthusiasm and interest in the project. The hope is that providing community leaders and activists with comprehensive and rigorous results will help them develop strategies that minimize the harmful effects of protest while still allowing groups the right to cultural expression that is inherent in, and necessary for, a robust democratic society.