On Wednesday September 30th, PSE Director Dr. Dana Fisher presented her research on participation in large-scale climate protest at the Workshop for Society and the Environment. Her talk, titled “The People’s Climate March as an Example of Social Movement Accretion,” focused on preliminary findings from a paper in progress with PSE Fellow Anya Galli that explores the multiple processes by which social movements expand their reach by mobilizing large numbers of participants.
The People’s Climate March took place on September 21, 2014 in New York City. Billed as the “Largest Climate March in History,” the event (led by 350.org) mobilized unprecedented numbers of people to call for “climate justice for all” and action on climate change legislation and hosted a coalition of more than 1500 unique organizations. Organizers estimated that the total turnout was around 400,000 people (although other estimates are closer to 150,000) and it took more than five hours for protesters to cross the official starting point of the march. Conversely, the recent #FollowFrancis rally for climate justice during the Pope’s visit to Washington, D.C. on September 24th2015, mobilized only a few thousand participants. Despite expectations for a large turnout for the event, people attending the rally filled only the front portion of the first of five blocks portioned off for the event on the National Mall.
The People’s Climate March took place on September 21, 2014 in New York City. Billed as the “Largest Climate March in History,” the event (led by 350.org) mobilized unprecedented numbers of people to call for “climate justice for all” and action on climate change legislation and hosted a coalition of more than 1500 unique organizations. Organizers estimated that the total turnout was around 400,000 people (although other estimates are closer to 150,000) and it took more than five hours for protesters to cross the official starting point of the march. Conversely, the recent #FollowFrancis rally for climate justice during the Pope’s visit to Washington, D.C. on September 24th2015, mobilized only a few thousand participants. Despite expectations for a large turnout for the event, people attending the rally filled only the front portion of the first of five blocks portioned off for the event on the National Mall.
So what made the People’s Climate March such a successful event? How was the climate movement able to reach out to a wide range of activists, everyday citizens, and organizations? Existing research has addressed the expansion of social movements through various lenses including social networks, organizational coalitions, and computer-mediated channels. We propose that movements use multiple, complimentary processes to attract and mobilize participants to build and magnify their cause.
This project uses data collected from a random sample of climate protesters at the People’s Climate March in New York City last September. Overall, 468 surveys were collected with the help of a team of researchers from the University of Maryland and several other universities (response rate of 84%). An overview of the sampling and survey methodology, as well as general findings, is available on Dr. Fisher’s website.
The vast majority of People’s Climate March participants lived in the US (94%), and nearly half lived near the event in the Tri-State area (46.8%). Consistent with other studies of protest and the environment, we find that participants were more likely to be female (54.8%) and highly educated (44.4% held graduate degrees and 36% held college degrees) compared to the general US population. Participants were also predominantly liberal (84.7%). The age distribution for participants was bimodal, with a median age of 39 and two main groups in their mid-20s and mid-60s.
Despite their demographic similarity, we find that participants in the People’s Climate March came from a diverse range of backgrounds, affiliations, and activism experience. Of the participants we surveyed, 37.4% had not protested at all in the past five years, 44.9% had protested a few times, while highly active protesters were in the minority. In particular, experience with climate protest was low: about half of the protesters who had participated in at least one protest in the past five years had never participated in a climate protest. When asked about their first protest experience, most respondents reported that they had protested for anti-war issues or other topics. The figures below show the decade of first protest experience and topic of first protest experience for survey respondents.
The vast majority of People’s Climate March participants lived in the US (94%), and nearly half lived near the event in the Tri-State area (46.8%). Consistent with other studies of protest and the environment, we find that participants were more likely to be female (54.8%) and highly educated (44.4% held graduate degrees and 36% held college degrees) compared to the general US population. Participants were also predominantly liberal (84.7%). The age distribution for participants was bimodal, with a median age of 39 and two main groups in their mid-20s and mid-60s.
Despite their demographic similarity, we find that participants in the People’s Climate March came from a diverse range of backgrounds, affiliations, and activism experience. Of the participants we surveyed, 37.4% had not protested at all in the past five years, 44.9% had protested a few times, while highly active protesters were in the minority. In particular, experience with climate protest was low: about half of the protesters who had participated in at least one protest in the past five years had never participated in a climate protest. When asked about their first protest experience, most respondents reported that they had protested for anti-war issues or other topics. The figures below show the decade of first protest experience and topic of first protest experience for survey respondents.
When looking at topic of first protest by decade, it is clear that waves of contention emerge around specific issues. In particular, many people mobilized around anti-war issues in the 1960s (Vietnam War) and 2000s (Iraq/Afghanistan War). Other important waves emerged around nuclear issues in the 1980s and economic issues (Occupy Wall Street) around 2010. The figure below shows these patterns.
We find that the diverse participants of the People’s Climate March were mobilized via multiple channels. First, organizational coalitions were a crucial part of the planning and publicity for the event: 33% of survey respondents found out about the march from an organization or group, 22% found out from flyers or posters, 21% found out from social media, and 18% found out from websites. The findings show that although the Internet was an important channel for publicizing the event, print media was equally important. Further, personal networks were especially important when it came to spreading information about the march: when asked about how they found out about the event, 42% of participants mentioned family or friends. Social networks also played a central role in bringing people out to the streets on September 21st, 2014. When it came to the day of the event, most people (60%) came to the march with friends or family, whereas just under 20% came with organizations.
Organizations, social networks, and computer-mediated channels all shaped the outcome of the People’s Climate March, albeit in different ways at different stages. As we continue to analyze the connections between mobilization channels and participation using the survey data from the People’s Climate March, we are especially interested in the question of how large-scale protest events expand their reach and, in some cases, become “historic” in their ability to mobilize large numbers of people for a specific issue.
Organizations, social networks, and computer-mediated channels all shaped the outcome of the People’s Climate March, albeit in different ways at different stages. As we continue to analyze the connections between mobilization channels and participation using the survey data from the People’s Climate March, we are especially interested in the question of how large-scale protest events expand their reach and, in some cases, become “historic” in their ability to mobilize large numbers of people for a specific issue.
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