From Collusion to Autonomy: Patterns of Hybrid Repression and Human Rights Activism

Peña, A. M.; Meier, Larissa; Nah, Alice M.

Abstract

This article elaborates the notion of hybrid repression, understanding by this modalities of dissidence suppression that involve state and nonstate actors interacting in various ways, from fully autonomous to close cooperation. In does so by proposing a framework to scrutinize repressive configurations on the basis of three analytical dimensions – the perpetrator of repression, the tactics used, and the threats perpetrators respond to – and using this framework to perform a systematic qualitative analysis of 160 in-depth interviews with human rights activists in Colombia, Egypt, Mexico, and Kenya. On this basis, the article analytically distinguishes and empirically elaborates four patterns of hybrid repression: state rogue, corporate, communitarian, and nonstate armed repression. Our argument challenges the state-centric approach to political repression that still dominates much of the contentious politics literature, and invites further research on how hybrid repression operates in different political contexts, and in relation to different areas of activism.

Citation

Peña, A. M., Meier, L., & Nah, A. M. (online). From Collusion to Autonomy: Patterns of Hybrid Repression and Human Rights Activism. Government and Opposition, 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2024.32

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 28, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Jan 14, 2025
• Deposit Date: Dec 13, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 15, 2025
• Journal: Government and Opposition
• Print ISSN: 0017-257X
• Electronic ISSN: 1477-7053
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 1-26
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2024.32
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3217160
• Publisher URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/government-and-opposition
• Other Repo URL: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/219038/