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Study suggests disruptive protests by fringe groups give moderate groups more support

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2024-11-01 23:00:03

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A team of social scientists at the Social Change Lab, in the U.K., working with a sociologist from the University of South Carolina, has found evidence to support what has come to be known as "the positive radical flank effect"—where protests by radical groups lead to more support for less radical groups.

In their paper published in the journal Nature Sustainability, the group describes how they conducted public polls designed to measure support for a moderate group of environmental protesters before and after another more radical group carried out a four-day protest that involved blocking access to part of London's M25 motorway. The editors at Nature have published a Research Briefing in the same journal issue outlining the work by the team.

Over the past several years, as officials and governments around the world have failed to stop the continued discharge of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, leading to global warming, private citizens around the world such as Greta Thunberg have taken to carrying out demonstrations hoping to make a difference.