Why Women Take to the Streets of Minsk : An Interview Study of Female Protesters' Motivations

Abstract: While there are numerous examples of research investigating who would protest and why, the research fields of social movements and political participation have not done enough to understand the motivations of women in protest. Nor are there enough studies of the mobilisation of women in anti-regime protest in a post-communist context. This thesis investigates what motivates women in non-democratic settings to participate in protest, despite the elevated costs and risks given the context. It examines Belarus, a protest movement where women have taken on a prevalent role in the protest movement of 2020. The research design is a within-case study using the method of in-depth interviews. I conduct interviews with ten Belarusian female protesters who are found primarily via a snowball sampling technique. The transcribed interviews are analysed using a framework of collective and selective incentives. The study finds that discontent with the government and belief in the movement’s success are significant motivations, while there is not belief that their own participation will enhance the likelihood of success. Results also show that respondents were motivated by the violence used against protesters, a newfound sense of community between Belarusians, solidarity with protesters, the peaceful repertoires in the movement and group belongingness with other women. Taken together, these results deepen our understanding of protests as motivations in themselves and of motivation as a resource, but foremost of why women protest. The results might incentivise more research to be made on women’s role in protest and motivations to join social movements.