During the march, a research team surveyed a sample of 528 randomly selected participants asking questions about what motivated them to join the march, their age, ethnic and educational background, political ideology, their protest experience and whether participants were members of any formal organisations.
The study finds that participating individuals were likely to be motivated by issues connected to the social identities that were most salient for them: Black participants mobilised for racial justice, Hispanic participants mobilised for immigration, and women mobilised for women’s rights and reproductive rights.
However, the study also finds that individuals reported being motivated by additional issues that crossed their individual identities in varying ways. In particular, individuals who were motivated around issues such as racial justice or immigration were also motivated by issues related to the LGBTQ community and vice versa.
“Our results show that certain groups in the American Resistance (that is the new movement of individuals and collectivities that is challenging the Trump Agenda) are succeeding in reaching out to constituents with intersectional interests that cut across race, sexuality, and gender. Whatever these organisations are doing to galvanise support seems to be working”, says Dana R. Fisher.
“The environmental movement, on the other hand, might need to change their strategy if they want to engage people who have intersectional interests. We found that people who were motivated by the environment were not motivated by issues such as racial justice or immigration”.
One explanation for this result, according to Fisher, could be that traditionally, the environmental movement in the USA has mobilised predominantly white, middle class Americans, and focused on protecting wild spaces and green areas.
“Communities of color tend to mobilise around issues that that affect them personally, say like police brutality or inequality. Yet, these communities often live in areas that are more vulnerable to climate change, which means that it makes sense for the environmental movement to bring them on board”.
The study also finds that the majority of participants who turned out to the Women’s March were highly educated, more than 86 % reported having a bachelor’s degree.
“While the Resistance is doing really well overall in galvanising support from people motivated by a range of diverse social issues, we see that it is failing to reach out to lesser educated Americans.”
Dana R. Fisher and her fellow researchers note that a lot could be learned from their study.
“Organisations and individuals involved in the Resistance can use our results as food for thought: who are they not reaching out to; what could be changed, and what are they already doing well? We hope that the study can help to identify salient questions, and aid organisations to develop more effective strategies”.
Publication: Intersectionality takes it to the streets: Mobilizing across diverse interests for the Women’s March
Contact:
Dana R. Fisher
drfisher [at] umd [dot] edu
+1-301-825-5438