The Role of Infrastructure and Logistics in Sustained Protest Mobilization: A Comparative Mixed-Methods Study of on-campus Protest Encampments

Protest encampment represent a distinctive phenomenon within protest research, differing from other forms of protest in their dual requirement: not only do they require an appropriate strategy to mobilize protestors, but they also must be able to maintain that initial mobilization through a secondary strategy. Through appropriate infrastructure and logistics, protest encampments can provide the necessary conditions to enable protestors to participate over extended periods of time. While different attempts have been made to categorize protest encampments based on their form and operational mode, this paper provides a comprehensive framework to research protest encampments based on the functions they need to fulfill in order to maintain sufficient mobilization: (1) A mean to an End, (2) A Provider of Necessities, (3) An Emotion Manager and (4) a Meaning-Charged Space. Through a mixed-methods approach, this study examines how different infrastructural dimensions, providing for the four core functions of protest encampments influence the success of protest encampments. First, a protest event analysis of more than 330 Palestine solidarity encampments across five continents provides a systematic empirical foundation. These findings are then contextualized through qualitative interviews with protest participants and a video- and image analysis of social media data. By triangulating three novel data sets, this article advances theoretical understandings of how infrastructure mediates the mobilization and organizational success of protest encampments.