Violent Political Protest: Introducing a New Uppsala Conflict Data Program Data Set on Organized Violence, 1989-2019

• Author: Isak Svensson,Susanne Schaftenaar,Marie Allansson
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00220027221109791
• Published date: 01 October 2022
• Date: 01 October 2022
• Subject Matter: Data Set Features

Data Set Feature

Journal of Conf‌lict Resolution

2022, Vol. 66(9) 1703–1730

© The Author(s) 2022

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DOI: 10.1177/00220027221109791

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Violent Political Protest:

Introducing a New Uppsala

Conf‌lict Data Program Data

Set on Organized Violence,

1989-2019

Isak Svensson

1

, Susanne Schaftenaar

1

, and Marie Allansson

1

Abstract

This article presents the Uppsala Conf‌lict Data Program (UCDP) “Violent Political

Protest”(VPP) data set: a new –standalone- category of organized violence, which

complements, and is compatible with, UCDP’s three categories of organized violence:

one-sided violence, non-state, and state-based conf‌lict. It consists of violent political

protests, with at least 25 casualties during a year, in which informally organized civi lians

challenge states over governmental or territorial issues. We describe the data col-

lection process, and demonstrate the data’s use with empirical analyses. Violent po-

litical protest is present globally, but most prevalent in the Middle East and Africa, and

increasingly common over time. Violent political protest frequently co-occurs with

state-based conf‌licts, but rarely due to conf‌lict escalation. We explore if this is due to

shared contexts, and f‌ind that gender inequality increases the likelihood of VPP onset,

similar to state-based conf‌licts. Finally, we identify avenues for future research, in-

cluding using VPP to assist in a more precise and complete analysis of organized

violence.

1

Department of Peace and Conf‌lict Research, Uppsala university, Uppsala, Sweden

*Equal authorship applies.

Corresponding Author:

Susanne Schaftenaar, Department of Peace and Conf‌lict Research, Uppsala university, Gamla Torget 3, Box

514, Uppsala 751 20, Sweden.

Email: susanne.schaftenaar@pcr.uu.se

Keywords

violent protest, conf‌lict data, riot, political violence, armed conf‌lict, nonviolent, UCDP,

gender

Introduction

Syria, 2011

In early 2011, popular uprisings, soon referred to as the “Arab Spring”, spread to

several countries, including Syria. Initially, the protests against the Government of

Syria were relatively minor. Following events in Daara, where three boys were killed by

the police and where protesters subsequently were met with heavy-handed repression

through lethal force, the protests escalated into nation-wide, large-scale demonstra-

tions. The demands of the civilians included political change incorporating demands for

a new government. Many of the protesters were unarmed, but there were also clashes

between protesters and security forces. The ensuing civil war started when army

off‌icers disserted from the Syrian army and joined the opposition during the summer of

2011. By that time, however, political violence had already been ongoing for several

months through asymmetrical clashes between protesters and Syrian armed forces.

Palestinian Intifada, 1989

Throughout 1989, Palestinians took to the streets, many of them young, demonstrating

against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. As part of a large-scale campaign,

driven primarily by Palestinians in the occupied territories who were disappointed with

the ineff‌iciencies of resistance strategies employed by the exiled Palestinian leadership,

a wide range of civil resistance tactics were employed, including demonstrations. The

demonstrations were commonly small-scale, but recurrent, and often consisted of a

group of youths throwing stones at Israeli soldiers. The soldiers responded by shooting

back, which resulted in more than 25 deaths. These types of events have been a re-

curring phenomenon and have claimed many lives, especially during the 1990s.

Egypt, 2013

In the beginning of 2013, following growing discontent with President Morsi and the

developments in the country since the Arab Spring uprising 2 years earlier, anti-

government demonstrations occurred in several cities. Several of the demonstrations

became violent with clashes between protesters and security forces. A few months later,

in July, President Morsi was ousted by the military, sparking a new wave of dem-

onstrations. Pro-Morsi protesters challenged the coup and demanded that Morsi should

be re-instated. The military responded with highly repressive measures, resulting in

hundreds of people being killed in violent clashes.

1704 Journal of Conf‌lict Resolution 66(9)