The limits of protest event data and repertoires for the analysis of contemporary feminism

Protest event data (PEA) and the related concept of repertoire of contention is widely used in the study of social movements. I argue that conventional forms of protest event analysis may have significant limitations when applied to feminist protest. Unobtrusive or individualised forms of resistance and protest associated with feminism are difficult to measure through typical protest event data. Moreover, the concept of repertoires of contention retains within it a number of unwarranted gendered assumptions. Some flow from being too reliant upon protest event data. I suggest that repertoires may be gendered, that this is unacknowledged by those who use the concept and has implications for its normative dimensions.