Rethinking social protest movements’ theorization: Lessons from Egypt, Burkina Faso and Bolivia

The primary observation of this paper is that the common definition of a social protest movement should be revised, following the large-scale popular protest witnessed in the last few years in different areas of the world. The traditional perception of social protest movements – as a phenomenon reserved to non-governmental actors alone, such as workers’ unions, civil society and opposition movements – is deficient. While this perception concentrates on actors from outside of the formal establishment, the definition should focus on the behaviour and patterns of activity of the actors involved in protest, including official ones, such as the armed forces and other security apparatuses. Examples from Egypt, Burkina Faso and Bolivia examined hereinafter, suggest that security forces meet the criteria of a social protest movement, whether they initiate demonstrations against the regime or join a popular revolt.