Marginalized, but not demobilized: Ethnic minority protest activity when facing discrimination
| Published date | 01 November 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/01925121231156633 |
| Author | Antoine Bilodeau,Stephen E White,Clayton Ma,Luc Turgeon,Ailsa Henderson |
| Date | 01 November 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Original Research Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/01925121231156633
International Political Science Review
2023, Vol. 44(5) 627 –644
© The Author(s) 2023
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DOI: 10.1177/01925121231156633
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Marginalized, but not demobilized:
Ethnic minority protest activity
when facing discrimination
Antoine Bilodeau
Department of Political Science, Concordia University, Canada
Stephen E White
Department of Political Science, Carleton University, Canada
Clayton Ma
Department of Political Science, Concordia University, Canada
Luc Turgeon
School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa, Canada
Ailsa Henderson
School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, UK
Abstract
In a context of backlash against diversity in many countries, we know little about how ethnic minorities
respond politically when they personally experience discrimination. Moving beyond the study of electoral
participation, this research investigates whether experiences of discrimination push ethnic minorities
toward an alternate political pathway for those who feel sidelined by the political community: protest
activity. The study also examines whether the context of discrimination (i.e. public or private sphere) has
different consequences for protest participation, and whether intragroup contact enhances the effects of
discrimination on protest participation. Relying on a survey of 1647 respondents from racialized backgrounds
in Canada, our findings indicate that discriminatory experiences increase participation in protest activities
irrespective of its context, and that the positive relationship between discriminatory experiences and
protest activity is stronger among respondents with greater intragroup contact.
Keywords
Protest politics, ethnic minorities, discrimination, Canada, ethnic networks, political participation,
intragroup contacts
Corresponding author:
Antoine Bilodeau, Department of Political Science, Concordia University, 1455 boul. de Maisonneuve Ouest, Montreal,
QC H3G 1M5, Canada.
Email: antoine.bilodeau@concordia.ca
1156633IPS0010.1177/01925121231156633International Political Science ReviewBilodeau et al.
research-article2023
Original Research Article
628 International Political Science Review 44(5)
This study investigates the effects of discriminatory experiences on ethnic minorities’ participa-
tion in protest activities. Such an investigation appears timely in a context in which the politics
of immigration in western democracies since the 1990s has been characterized by a backlash
against notions of diversity and multiculturalism. Although this backlash is perhaps most clearly
expressed as negative discourses and more restrictive policies with respect to immigration and
ethnocultural diversity, it also takes the form of discrimination against individual members of
ethnic minority groups. Discrimination against ethnic minorities predates the current period, but
ethnic minorities today face renewed attacks which seek to undermine their place within the
national community. Although the backlash against diversity is increasingly salient, we know
little about how ethnic minorities at the center of these debates react when they are the individual
victims of discrimination.1
To address this matter, we assess the relationship between reported experiences of discrimina-
tion and participation in such protest activities as taking part in demonstrations, signing petitions
or joining boycotts. Even though protest activities have been normalized over the last half-century
(Dalton, 1996; see also Barnes et al., 1979; Inglehart, 1990; Nevitte, 1996; Norris, 2002), histori-
cally they have also been viewed as the preferred channel for the marginalized strata of society to
voice their demands (Van Aelst and Walgrave, 2001). Accordingly, these activities, often taking
place at the margins of the political system, might still represent a crucial alternate pathway to
political engagement for people sidelined by the broader political community. Participation in
protest activities is also said to be preferred by ‘critical citizens’ (Norris, 2002) – people who
prefer to rely less on representatives to speak on their behalf, and who instead seek more direct
empowerment. For ethnic minorities experiencing discrimination, protest might represent an
alternative to mainstream political activity and constitute a means by which they can take matters
into their own hands.
We are not the first to examine how discrimination relates to political participation. With
regard to protest (and other non-electoral) activities, a few studies document greater political
engagement among those reporting experiences of discrimination. In the United Kingdom, Heath
et al. (2013) observe that ethnic minorities reporting discrimination are more likely to engage in
protest activities, a finding replicated by Martin (2016) for the specific case of British Muslims.
In the United States, Wrinkle et al. (1996) observe that discrimination is associated with greater
non-electoral participation among Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans, a relationship also
observed among Latinos (Valdez, 2011).2 Examining racialized minorities in Quebec, Canada,
Bilodeau (2017) notes a similar positive relationship between discrimination and participation in
activities such as boycotts, petitions or demonstrations in the streets. Similarly, Reitz and Banerjee
(2007) observe that perceived discrimination is associated with a greater propensity to volunteer
for social organizations in Canada. The evidence, then, is that ethnic minorities have a significant
capacity to mobilize for political action to defend their place within the community. Discrimination
is a negative experience for ethnic minorities, but one that seems to instill a greater sense of
urgency to political action.3
Building on this accumulated but sparse evidence, this study makes two contributions. First,
almost no studies on this topic differentiate between different contexts in which discrimination
takes place, and implicitly assume that all discriminatory experiences have the same consequences
for political participation. Recently, however, Oskooii (2016, 2020) proposed that not all forms of
discrimination lead to the same consequences for political participation, and demonstrated that
although political discrimination increases political participation, societal discrimination actu-
ally decreases participation. We re-examine the proposition that the context in which discrimina-
tion occurs has distinctive effects on political participation, looking specifically at the case of
protest activities.
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