Social Capital and Protests in the United States

Authors

Carolyn Chisadza, University of PretoriaFollow
Matthew Clance, University of PretoriaFollow
Rangan Gupta, University of PretoriaFollow

Abstract

In the last decade we have witnessed rising protests in the United States associated with issues that form part of society’s social fabric that can either facilitate or break down collective behaviour. Rising social inequalities can cause people to no longer share the same values and force individuals to work against each other. This breakdown in social capital can be a key driver for protests as the marginalised attempt to voice their grievances. Using social capital data from the Social Capital Project and protest data from the GDELT Project for U.S counties, we find that higher social capital is negatively associated with different types of protests, moreso demonstrations and violent protests. At a disaggregated level, we find that collective efficacy (i.e., level of social organisation) is a better predictor of protests in relation to other types of social capital. These results remain consistent when controlling for economic and social inequalities, such as income, unemployment, and race. The findings highlight the importance of social capital in the development process, particularly in mitigating the incentives to engage in violence.

Author Bio(s)

Professor Carolyn Chisadza is an Associate Professor in the Economics Department at the University of Pretoria. Her research interests include development issues related to conflict and quality of institutions (i.e. gender, ethnic, democratic and historical) within Africa.

Professor Matthew Clance is an Associate Professor in the Economics Department at the University of Pretoria. His research interests include the connection between international trade and development and geospatial econometric analysis of inequality and conflict determinants.

Professor Rangan Gupta is a full Professor in the Economics Department at the University of Pretoria. His research interests include Monetary Theory and Policy, Business Cycles and Time Series Econometrics.

Keywords

social capital, protests, inequality, USA

Recommended Citation

Chisadza, Carolyn; Clance, Matthew; and Gupta, Rangan (2025) "Social Capital and Protests in the United States," Peace and Conflict Studies: Vol. 32: No. 1, Article 1.
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/pcs/vol32/iss1/1

ORCID ID

0000-0002-9340-210X

ResearcherID

1431768