Chapter 9 is dedicated to three processes steering the cyclicity of protest, namely politicization, polarization, and radicalization. Simon and Klandermans elaborated on the dynamics of politicization of collective identity. A process of politicization implies support of third parties is sought and the environment becomes divided into allies and opponents. Polarization concerns distancing of the opposing camps. The more polarized the relationship becomes, the less deviation from the group’s opinions and actions is accepted and the more opposing opinions and acts are rejected. Eventually, this may result in radicalization. Also, in declining movements with many “exiters,” sustained participation can indicate radicalization. Take the violent Black Panthers, which played a short but important part in the civil rights movement, believing that Martin Luther King’s non-violent campaign had failed and any promised changes to their lifestyle via the “traditional” civil rights movement would take too long or simply would not be introduced at all. Hence, in light of the declining civil right movement, both disengagement and radical sustained participation were observed. To understand the social psychological correlates of the volatility of protest, politicization, polarization, and radicalization warrants elaborate investigation.

Chapter 5 discusses the dynamics of supply and the way it impacts on protest participation. Supply refers to the mobilizing context and the opportunities staged by organizers to protest. It relates to characteristics of the movement, and the contemporary more fluid and virtual networks of networks. We will discuss how the issues the actions are aiming at and the various forms they might take impact on their appeal to potential participants. Next, we will introduce the concept of multi-organizational fiels (MOF) and discuss what role embeddedness in MOFs plays in types of civic engagement. We will close the chapter with a discussion of the mechanisms at work in the supply side of protest. We will argue that linked to embeddedness are patterns of identification which make people more or less susceptible to the appeals of one social movement organization over another.

Chapter 8 discusses dynamics of engagement and disengagement. Drury and Reicher suggests that protest participation generates a “positive social-psychological transformation,” arguing that participation strengthens identification and induces collective empowerment. The emergence of an inclusive self-categorization as “oppositional” leads to feelings of unity and expectations of support. This empowers people to oppose authorities. Such action creates collective self-objectification (i.e., it defines the participant’s identity opposite the dominant outgroup). As such, taking it onto the streets strengthens empowerment and politicization, paving the way to sustained participation. Sustained participation is nearly absent in the social movement literature. Surprisingly, because long-term participants keep movements going. The other side of the coin is disengagement. Again, compared to the abundant literature on why people join movements, literature on why they exit is almost non-existent. Research has centered on the determinants of disengagement, or the future of ex-activists, but rarely on the disengagement process. Indeed, the process of disengagement is highly likely to vary as a function of what provokes it, the costs of disengagement, the manner in which it takes place, and therefore what becomes of those who leave. Chapter 8 will elaborate the social psychological correlates of sustained participation and disengagement.