RESIST, PERSIST, AND TRANSFORM: THE EMERGENCE AND IMPACT OF GRASSROOTS RESISTANCE GROUPS OPPOSING THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY*
The November 2016 election sparked nationwide resistance to the new Trump administration and Republican Congress. Initial studies have focused on public protests and professionally staffed advocacy organizations, but the resistance also includes thousands of volunteer-led grassroots groups. This article uses data from online surveys, fieldwork observations and interviews, and web searches to analyze the development, demographics, and activities of grassroots resistance groups located in multiple states as well as all parts of Pennsylvania. Starting right after the 2016 election, local resistance groups were founded in places of all sizes and partisan orientations through friendships and social media contacts. Most of their members and leaders are middle-class, college-educated white women. Groups have reached out to surrounding communities, generating and supporting candidates for local, state, and national public offices; and many participants seek to join and reform local Democratic Party organizations.
Contributor Notes
* The authors wish to especially thank Caroline Tervo for her work preparing the maps used here and Lara Putnam for her help gathering information about Pennsylvania. For helpful comments and feedback, the authors also thank Sid Tarrow and colleagues who have heard presentations of this research in various settings. Most of all, the authors thank the many local resistance group leaders and members who welcomed us as observers, provided interviews, and answered our online questionnaires.
† Leah Gose is a PhD student in Sociology and Theda Skocpol is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology, both at Harvard University. Correspondence can be directed to Theda Skocpol, Department of Government, Harvard University, 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.