Protest cycle

Protest cycles (also known as cycles of contention or waves of collective action) refers to the cyclical rise and fall in the social movement activity. Sidney Tarrow (1998) defines them as 'a phase of heightened conflict across the social system', with 'intensified interactions between challengers and authorities which can end in reform, repression and sometimes revolution'. Protest cycles (also known as cycles of contention or waves of collective action) refers to the cyclical rise and fall in the social movement activity. Sidney Tarrow (1998) defines them as 'a phase of heightened conflict across the social system', with 'intensified interactions between challengers and authorities which can end in reform, repression and sometimes revolution'. Tarrow argues that cyclical openings in political opportunity create incentives for collective action. Those cycles begin when the authority (like the government) becomes seen as vulnerable to social change, in a time when demands for social change are increasing. He defines the political opportunity as 'consistent dimension of the political environment that provides incentives for people to undertake collective action by affecting their expectations of success or failure'. When the political opportunity disappears, for example because of a change in the public opinion caused by a rise in insecurity and violence, the movement dissolves.