Abstract
Why do Western-based solidarity networks mobilize in support of some groups engaged in contentious political action abroad but not others? Since the late 1950s, a number of these solidarity networks have formed to support specific groups in conflict with their governments. Prominent recipients of such solidarity include black South Africans struggling against apartheid, Tibetans resisting Chinese occupation, Zapatistas opposing NAFTA and the denial of indigenous rights in Mexico, and Darfuris in Sudan subjected to what some have suggested was the first genocide of the twenty-first century. For some, this type of Western solidarity can have a positive effect by strengthening a group’s resolve to continue its struggle against a more powerful foe, thereby increasing its chances of success.1 For others, it may complicate matters by providing incentives for local groups to eschew compromise, by weakening a domestic group’s standing among its local constituents, and by enabling targeted states to delegitimize local actors as agents of Western imperialism.2 Whatever their impact happens to be in a particular case, these solidarity networks can have profound effects on how domestic contention plays out on the ground.
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Notes
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Zarnett, D. (2015). Transnationalized Domestic Contention: Explaining The Varying Levels Of Western Solidarity Given To Kurds And Palestinians. In: Gerges, F.A. (eds) Contentious Politics in the Middle East. Middle East Today. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137530868_9
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