Navigating the boundary between 'normative' and 'non-normative' collective action: A British case study of the removal of a public statue associated with racism.

Λεπτομέρειες βιβλιογραφικής εγγραφής
Τίτλος:	Navigating the boundary between 'normative' and 'non-normative' collective action: A British case study of the removal of a public statue associated with racism.
Συγγραφείς:	Dixon J; School of Psychology, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK., Young M; School of Psychology, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK., McKeown S; Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Bristol, UK., Stenner P; School of Psychology, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK., Stathi S; School of Human Sciences, University of Greenwich, London, UK., Di Bernardo GA; Department of Education and Human Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy., Vezzali L; Faculty of Medicine, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Πηγή:	The British journal of social psychology [Br J Soc Psychol] 2026 Apr; Vol. 65 (2), pp. e70058.
Τύπος έκδοσης:	Journal Article; Historical Article
Γλώσσα:	English
Στοιχεία περιοδικού:	Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 8105534 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2044-8309 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 01446665 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Br J Soc Psychol Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s):	Publication: <2012-> : Chichester : Wiley-Blackwell Original Publication: Letchworth Herts : British Psychological Society
Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH):	Racism/history , Racism/legislation & jurisprudence , Racism/psychology , Enslavement/history , Social Change*, Humans ; United Kingdom ; Social Group ; History, 18th Century
Περίληψη:	Psychological research typically distinguishes between normative (e.g., peaceful protests, petitions) and non-normative (e.g., property destruction, riots) collective action. This binary framework has proved useful in exploring the psychological factors that shape different forms of collective action. However, recent critiques suggest it oversimplifies the fluid, contested, and context-dependent nature of collective protest. Our paper develops these critiques through qualitative analysis of walking interview accounts and courtroom transcripts of an event occurring at a 2020 Black Lives Matter rally in the city of Bristol, UK. During this event, a public statue of Edward Colston (1636-1721), a 17th century slaver, was toppled, defaced, and thrown in the River Avon, and four protestors were subsequently charged with, then acquitted of, criminal damage. Implications for conceptualising and investigating collective action are explored and the importance of recovering the situated meanings and consequences of local understandings of normative and non-normative action emphasised. (© 2026 The Author(s). British Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.)
References:	Aguilera, C., & Badilla, M. (2022). Human rights memorials in turmoil: Antagonistic memories in contemporary Chile. Political Geography, 98, 102731. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2022.102731. Badilla, M., & Aguilera, C. (2021). The 2019–2020 Chilean anti‐neoliberal uprising: A catalyst for decolonial de‐monumentalization. Memory Studies, 14(6), 1226–1240. https://doi.org/10.1177/17506980211054305. Becker, J. C., & Tausch, N. (2015). A dynamic model of engagement in normative and non‐normative collective action: Psychological antecedents, consequences, and barriers. European Review of Social Psychology, 26(1), 43–92. Billig, M. (1987). Arguing and thinking: A rhetorical approach to social psychology. Cambridge University Press. Billig, M. (1991). Ideology and opinions: Studies in rhetorical psychology. Sage. Billig, M., Condor, S., Edwards, D., Gane, M., Middleton, D., & Radley, A. (1988). Ideological dilemmas: A social psychology of everyday thinking. Sage. Burch‐Brown, J., Cole, T., Burton, E., Costley, N., Poole, S., Sobers, S., & Tincknell, E. (2022). The Colston Statue: What next? We Are Bristol History Commission Short Report. Bridging Histories. www.bridginghistories.com/heritage‐resources. Carvacho, H., González, R., Cheyre, M., Rocha, C., Cornejo, M., Jiménez‐Moya, G., Manzi, J., Álvarez‐Dezerega, C., Álvarez, B., Castro, D., Varela, M., Valdenegro, D., Drury, J., & Livingstone, A. (2023). When social movements fail or succeed: Social psychological consequences of a collective action's outcome. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1155950. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1155950. Cocco, V. M., Vezzali, L., Stathi, S., Di Bernardo, G. A., & Dovidio, J. F. (2024). Mobilizing or sedative effects? A narrative review of the association between intergroup contact and collective action among advantaged and disadvantaged groups. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 28(2), 119–180. https://doi.org/10.1177/10888683231203141. Di Masso, A., Buser, M., & Palmadottir, H. (2025). What is so good about walking interviews? Expanding the geo‐indexical virtues of making meaning on the move. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 22(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2025.2459704. Dixon, J., Levine, M., & McAuley, R. (2006). Locating impropriety: Street drinking, moral order, and the ideological dilemma of public space. Political Psychology, 27, 170–190. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467‐9221.2006.00002.x. Double Down News. (2025). Sharing This Video Could Get You 14 Years in Prison [Video]. YouTube. Drury, J. (2002). “When the mobs are looking for witches to burn, nobody's safe”: Talking about the reactionary crowd. Discourse & Society, 13(1), 41–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926502013001003. Drury, J., Ball, R., & Poole, S. (2025). Solidarity riots in the diffusion of collective action: Doing historical research to develop theory in social psychology. British Journal of Social Psychology, 64, e12870. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12870. Drury, J., & Reicher, S. (2000). Collective action and psychological change: The emergence of new social identities. British Journal of Social Psychology, 39(4), 579–604. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466600164642. Edwards, D., & Potter, J. (1992). Discursive psychology. Sage. Evans, J., & Jones, P. (2011). The walking interview: Methodology, mobility and place. Applied Geography, 31(2), 849–858. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2010.09.005. Feinberg, M., Willer, R., & Kovacheff, C. (2020). The activist's dilemma: Extreme protest actions reduce popular support for social movements. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 118(1), 15–41. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000230. Gayle, D. (2021). Campaigners try to block Edward Colston display at Bristol museum. The Guardian, June 7. https://www.theguardian.com/uk‐news/2021/jun/07/campaigners‐try‐to‐block‐edward‐colston‐display‐at‐bristol‐museum. Gibson, S. (2015). From representations to representing: On social representations and discursive‐rhetorical psychology. In G. Sammut, E. Andreouli, G. Gaskell, & J. Valsiner (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of social representations (pp. 210–223). Cambridge University Press. Huma, B.‐R., & Potter, J. (2023). Discursive psychology. In M. Handford & J. P. Gee (Eds.), Routledge handbook of discourse analysis (2nd ed., pp. 53–66). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003035244‐6. Iatridis, T., & Kadianaki, I. (2023). Constructions of difference in lay talk about diversity: Ideological dilemmas, antiracism and implications for identity. British Journal of Social Psychology, 62(3), 1271–1284. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12631. Kunst, J. R., & Obaidi, M. (2020). Understanding violent extremism in the 21st century: The (re)emerging role of relative deprivation. Current Opinion in Psychology, 35, 55–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.03.010. Li, M., Adra, A., Yuen, S., Salfate, S. V., Chan, K.‐M., & Baumert, A. (2024). Understanding non‐normative civil resistance under repression: Evidence from Hong Kong and Chile. Political Psychology, 45(3), 493–515. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12933. Michos, I., Figgou, L., & Bozatzis, N. (2021). Constructions of LGBTQI+ rights and claims in lay discourse in Greece: Liberal dilemmas and sexual citizenship boundaries. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 31(6), 768–781. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2538. Miller, C., & Grubb, S. (2020). Bristol has spoken ‐ and most people are glad the Colston statue was pulled down. Bristol Live, 13 June 2020. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol‐news/bristol‐spoken‐most‐people‐glad‐4217554. Morris, S. (2020). Bristol mayor: Colston statue removal was act of “historical poetry”. The Guardian, June 13. https://www.theguardian.com/uk‐news/2020/jun/13/bristol‐mayor‐colston‐statue‐removal‐was‐act‐of‐historical‐poetry. Orazani, S. N., & Leidner, B. (2019). The power of nonviolence: Confirming and explaining the success of nonviolent (rather than violent) political movements. European Journal of Social Psychology, 49(4), 688–704. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2526. Pauls, I. L., Shuman, E., Saguy, T., & Halperin, E. (2022). Does crossing a moral line justify collective means? Explaining how a perceived moral violation triggers normative and nonnormative forms of collective action. European Journal of Social Psychology, 52(1), 105–123. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2818. Potter, J. (1996). Representing reality: Discourse, rhetoric and social construction. Sage. Potter, J., & Reicher, S. (1987). Discourses of community and conflict: The organization of social categories in accounts of a ‘riot’. British Journal of Social Psychology, 26(1), 25–40. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044‐8309.1987.tb00758.x. Potter, J., & Wetherell, M. (1987). Discourse and social psychology: Beyond attitudes and behaviour. Sage. Reicher, S., Stott, C., Cronin, P., & Adang, O. (2004). An integrated approach to crowd psychology and public order policing. Policing, 27(4), 558–572. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639510410566271. Reicher, S. D. (1984). The St. Pauls' riot: An explanation of the limits of crowd action in terms of a social identity model. European Journal of Social Psychology, 14(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420140102. Saab, R., Spears, R., Tausch, N., & Sasse, J. (2016). Predicting aggressive collective action based on the efficacy of peaceful and aggressive actions. European Journal of Social Psychology, 46(5), 529–543. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2193. Saavedra, P., & Drury, J. (2019). Beyond peaceful protest: When non‐participants support violence against the police. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/rm7jg. Saavedra, P., & Drury, J. (2024). Understanding protest violence: From protesters' to non‐participants' support for protest violence. In J. R. Vollhardt & F. Bou Zeineddine (Eds.), Resistance to repression and violence: Global psychological perspectives (pp. 202–225). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/9780197687703.003.0010. Shuman, E., Cohen‐Chen, S., Hirsch‐Hoefler, S., & Halperin, E. (2016). Explaining normative versus nonnormative action: The role of implicit theories. Political Psychology, 37, 835–852. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12325. Shuman, E., Saguy, T., van Zomeren, M., & Halperin, E. (2021). Disrupting the system constructively: The effect of nonnormative nonviolent collective action on advantaged group members' support for social change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 121(4), 819–841. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000336. Siraz, S. S., Claes, B., De Castro, J. O., & Vaara, E. (2023). Theorizing the grey area between legitimacy and illegitimacy. Journal of Management Studies, 60(4), 924–959. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12901. Stott, C., Ho, L., Chan, Y. T., Kyprianides, A., & Saavedra, P. (2020). Patterns of ‘disorder’ during the 2019 protests in Hong Kong: Policing, social identity, intergroup dynamics, and radicalization. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 14, 814–835. https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paaa073. Stott, C., & Reicher, S. (1998). How conflict escalates: The inter‐group dynamics of collective football crowd ‘violence’. Sociology, 32(2), 353–377. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038598032002007. Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33–47). Brooks/Cole. Tausch, N., Becker, J. C., Spears, R., Christ, O., Saab, R., Singh, P., & Siddiqui, R. N. (2011). Explaining radical group behavior: Developing emotion and efficacy routes to normative and nonnormative collective action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 129–148. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022728. Tausch, N., Bode, S., & Halperin, E. (2025). Emotions in violent extremism. In M. Obaidi & J. Kunst (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of violent extremism. Cambridge University Press. Teixeira, C. P., Spears, R., & Yzerbyt, V. Y. (2019). Is Martin Luther king or Malcom X the more acceptable face of protest? High‐status groups' reactions to low‐status groups' collective action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 118, 919–944. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000195. Uluğ, Ö. M., Chayinska, M., & Tropp, L. R. (2023). Does witnessing gender discrimination predict women's collective action intentions for gender justice? Examining the moderating role of perceived female support. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 33(2), 501–518. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466600164642. Uysal, M. S., Saavedra, P., & Drury, J. (2024). Beyond normative and non‐normative: A systematic review on predictors of confrontational collective action. British Journal of Social Psychology, 63, 1385–1409. van Zomeren, M., Kutlaca, M., & Turner‐Zwinkels, F. (2018). Integrating who “we” are with what “we” (will not) stand for: A further extension of the social identity model of collective action. European Review of Social Psychology, 29(1), 122–160. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2018.1479347. van Zomeren, M., Leach, C. W., & Spears, R. (2012a). Protesters as “passionate economists”: A dynamic dual pathway model of approach coping with collective disadvantage. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 16(2), 180–199. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868311430835. van Zomeren, M., Postmes, T., & Spears, R. (2012b). On conviction's collective consequences: Integrating moral conviction with the social identity model of collective action. British Journal of Social Psychology, 51(1), 52–71. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044‐8309.2010.02000.x. Vestergren, S., & Acar, Y. G. (2023). The dynamic context of transformations through crowds and collective action. Social Research: An International Quarterly, 90(2), 271–292. https://doi.org/10.1353/sor.2023.4901705. Wright, S. C., Taylor, D. M., & Moghaddam, F. M. (1990). Responding to membership in a disadvantaged group: From acceptance to collective protest. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58(6), 994–1003. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022‐3514.58.6.994. Zúñiga, C., Asún, R., & Louis, W. (2023). Normative and non‐normative collective action facing repression in a democratic context: A mixed study in a Chilean social movement. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 11(1), 362–382. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.7973.
Grant Information:	British Academy
Contributed Indexing:	Keywords: black lives matter; collective action; protest; racism; social change
Entry Date(s):	Date Created: 20260306 Date Completed: 20260710 Latest Revision: 20260710
Update Code:	20260711
PubMed Central ID:	PMC12966403
DOI:	10.1111/bjso.70058
PMID:	41792591
Βάση Δεδομένων:	MEDLINE

Περιγραφή
ISSN:	2044-8309
DOI:	10.1111/bjso.70058