Protesters and Tactical Escalation

Abstract

Social groups that take to the streets do not necessarily achieve their desired effects because the protest may be weak. Hence, protesting groups need to carry out tactical escalation in order to empower their action. Examining the Umbrella Movement of 2014, this paper suggests that the effectiveness of tactical escalation is not determined only by the public support it can generate, but also by the timing of the escalation because this timing reveals the movement’s momentum. The tactical escalation of the Umbrella Movement proved to be ineffective because some tactics damaged the movement’s image or were undertaken at a time when the momentum was already significantly low.