The structural bases of protest events. Multiple memberships and networks in the February 15th 2003 demonstrations

The marches that on February 15, 2003 challenged the imminent attack on Iraq attracted highly heterogeneous demonstrators, many of who were involved in different types of associations and protest activities. In this paper I suggest we expand our view of the mobilizing networks that facilitated people’s involvement in the demonstrations by looking not only at associations but also at what I define “protest communities”, namely, sets of activists sharing a sustained participation in protest activities. Network analysis shows that in some countries peace associations played a more prominent role than peace protest communities, while in other countries it was the opposite. The former were more central in inclusive political systems, the latter, in exclusive ones. Drawing on a survey of February 15th demonstrators, conducted in the USA, UK, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany, the paper highlights the connection between political opportunities and relational, and not merely behavioral, variables.