Contentious Politics

CQ — pp. 1-17 2026-07-23 Original Individualization, Relationships and Collective Action Among Migrants in China: Evidence from Rent Strikes Mengfei Ning, Xiaohong Jin Abstract Abstract Based on a field study of the COVID-19 rent reduction actions of a group of self-employed migrants in Zhengzhou, China, this study examines how individualization shaped the relational networks of the migrants, which in turn dynamically influenced the trajectory and outcome of their collective action. The group’s collective action was shaped not by a single relationship but by an instrumental relational network woven from fragmented intra-group ties, fragile local connections, unstable market relations and arms-length government–migrant interactions. The “relational duality” framework proposed here reveals this network’s dual role in contention: shared experiences of external exclusion catalysed internal solidarity and short-term mobilization; however, the network’s inherent instrumentality and vulnerability rendered it highly susceptible to adversaries’ strategic activation of latent competitive boundaries through tactics like co-optation and relational repression, thus triggering a rapid dissolution of solidarity that resulted in the protest fragmenting. These findings enrich an understanding of the micro-dynamics of contentious politics in China and offer a fresh lens for analysing collective action among similar groups that undergo individualization.

JOP 88/2 pp. 647-665 2026-04-01 Original How Exiles Mobilize Domestic Dissent Elizabeth R. Nugent, Alexandra A. Siegel Abstract How can exiles mobilize dissent back home? We argue that internet communication technologies enable exiles to play an instigator role in domestic contentious politics. Analyzing the behavior of three types of social media users—influencers, amplifiers, and consumers—we explore how Egyptian exiles participated in a cascade of online dissent that culminated in sizable anti-regime protests in September 2019. Analyses of large-scale digital trace data from Facebook, Google, Twitter, and YouTube demonstrate that exiles were central to the introduction and amplification of oppositional content, facilitating its circulation among a domestic audience that then localized the content by linking it with place-based calls for protest. Our findings suggest that content produced and amplified by exiles facilitates coordination among domestic opposition and challenges the supporting role typically ascribed to opposition abroad.