Transnational Moral shocks: Explaining Transnational Backfire - The Case of Palestinian Activism

Pearlman (2013) defines moral shocks as "deeply felt stimulus that sparks visceral reactions against a reprehensible reality." Such moral shocks have been found to overcome fear and other "dispiriting" emotions, enabling citizens to engage in political mobilization despite risks. This phenomenon has often been used to explain political protests after the fact. However, what counts as a moral shock, the various types of moral shock, and how we might measure such shocks empirically remains missing from the literature. As such, this paper utilizes the case of a transnational activist movement, the Palestine solidarity movement, to examine these questions. Using this case, we propose a typology of moral shock moments based on their emotional impacts. We then assess what counts as a moral shock moment using online data (twitter/X and Instagram), as well as offline data (physical protests and mobilizations). Not all moments that "shock" and receive traction online translate to offline action. Determining what achieves the offline manifestation can help us understand what counts as moral shock more generally.