Social Psychological Dynamics of Repression and Resistance to Repression: Insights From the October 2019 Lebanese Uprising

Abstract

Abstract Inspired by our lived experience of the October 17 Lebanese uprising in 2019, we propose a framework to advance our understanding of the social psychological dynamics of repression and counter-repression. The framework draws on the growing social psychological literature on antecedents of collective action (e.g., injustice, efficacy, identity, anger, social motive, reward motive), which we term “social psychological capital of collective action.” We argue that to the extent that repression aims to demobilize a social movement by undermining the social psychological capital of collective action, effective counter-repression would consist of (a) identifying the targeted social psychological mechanisms of demobilization, and (b) fighting repression through actions aimed at preserving and reinforcing the threatened social psychological capital of collective action. We illustrate these dynamics with examples from the Lebanese uprising pertaining to perceived injustice, efficacy, personal costs and fear, and identity. We discuss limitations, future research directions, and potential implications for activists.