Thailand's Red Shirt protests: popular movement or dangerous street theatre?

Forsyth, Tim ORCID: 0000-0001-7227-9475 (2010) Thailand's Red Shirt protests: popular movement or dangerous street theatre? Social Movement Studies, 9 (4). pp. 461-467. ISSN 1474-2837

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Abstract

The public demonstrations by Thailand's Red Shirts in early 2010 have been explained as a labour-based movement resisting Bangkok's entrenched elite, or as a mob mobilized by the deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in order to destabilize the current government. This profile looks into the protests' origins and nature. It argues that there are elements of truth to both explanations, but also that the protestors adopted powerful forms of symbolism of poverty and victimhood to draw attention to their needs, and to delegitimize the force used against them. This symbolism allowed both Thaksin and the protestors to gain political ground.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/14742837.as...
Additional Information:	© 2010 Taylor & Francis
Divisions:	International Development
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races J Political Science > JQ Political institutions Asia, Africa, Australia, Pacific
Date Deposited:	28 Aug 2024 11:14
Last Modified:	11 Dec 2024 23:43
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/124769

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