What Do Experts Think About Social Movements & Protest?

Why this matters

Most debate about protest tactics is driven by intuition, media commentary, and short-term polling. This survey aggregates the views of 120 academics who have spent careers studying what actually works. Their answers often diverge sharply from both media narratives and public opinion – providing an important counterweight and a more evidence-grounded basis for strategic decisions by movements and funders.

What we found

Experts are considerably more positive about disruptive protest than public polling suggests. They rated the strategic use of nonviolent disruptive tactics as the single most important tactical success factor – above media coverage and coalition-building. For issues with high public awareness and support like climate change, 70% thought disruptive tactics were effective. However, non-disruptive tactics were consistently rated more effective across all specific outcomes including public opinion, movement building, and media coverage. On failure, experts most commonly cited internal conflict and lack of clear political objectives. On external factors, supportive media coverage, sympathetic government, and elite allies were rated most important – and experts generally thought external context mattered more than internal tactics for achieving policy change. On action logic, 80% believed protests with clear logic (such as blockading oil depots) were more likely to be effective than those without it (such as throwing soup at paintings).

What it means for the movement

Three messages stand out. First, the gap between expert opinion and public opinion on disruptive protest is striking – movements should not assume that public disapproval signals academic consensus that disruption is counterproductive. Second, clarity matters: experts consistently emphasised clear goals, clear messaging, and actions whose logic is legible to the public and media. Third, tactical diversity is valued – most experts saw radical and moderate flanks as complementary rather than competing, and many advocated playing both inside and outside games simultaneously. The single most common piece of advice to movement organisers: organise, build alliances, and don’t be afraid to be disruptive – but pair it with a well-thought communication strategy.