It can be observed that throughout the recent decades, social protests have partially returned to their old visual forms (e.g., Lennon Walls), while also introducing new, previously unutilised means of expression (e.g., social media). T-shirts, flags, posters, memes, graffiti, dance, theatre and any other form of message conveyance – they are all elements that are highly present within protests in Hong Kong, South Korea or Taiwan, as well as South Asia. It therefore goes without saying that they are crucial parts of protests and are subject of scientific analyses; what is more, it is possible to study the visual aspects of protests not only from the perspective of art studies but also from the perspective of theories of social mobilization, resource mobilization, or identity theories. Taking what is aforementioned into consideration, in this panel we aim to build up on the current knowledge, as well as introduce new, insightful approaches to the topic through analyses of protests’ visual aspects from the perspective of theories of political protests.
Visual aspects in protests can serve as an engaging starting point for discussion concerning forms of mobilization. Crucially, visual aspects in protests have been and still are a way of expressing emotions for participants (such as grievances, disagreement or contention), also referred to as carriers of meanings. They allow participants to become active parts of the collective by providing them with tangible means of creating statements in their own, unique ways. They should be considered a reminder that while any collective could be analysed as a broad entity, they still are a sum of individuals and groups of interests. While these might comprehend and cope with issues differently, they aim to achieve shared outcomes through social networks and defined, collective identity. Moreover, visual aspects in protests can also help in facilitating communication between protest participants and their fellows, counterparts or any other potential recipients of the messages the protests produce.
We encourage researchers of social movements, conflict politics and protests to submit paper proposals for the described panel, with particular consideration of the theoretical approaches to their analyses.