Resistance to collective victimization and oppression

Abstract

Social psychological research on resistance has mostly been limited to collective action: collective, overt, organized, material resistance. However, people targeted by collective violence and oppression engage in many other resistance strategies, including individual, covert, everyday, and psychological resistance. This review differentiates dimensions of resistance to collective victimization, arguing that social psychology should consider the full range of resistance strategies. Moreover, non-violent resistance and violent resistance are not always mutually exclusive, essentialized principles. Instead, they result from dynamic and strategic choices people make when considering the violent contexts they are resisting. A review of the scarce research on collective resistance in violent, repressive contexts illustrates the need to theorize how the specific nature of these contexts shapes collective resistance.