A social normative model of solidarity-based collective action: Mobilising support for indigenous rights through social media

Project Information

MobiliseSolidarity

Grant agreement ID: 101109976

DOI

10.3030/101109976

EC signature date 15 May 2023

Start date 15 March 2024

End date 14 March 2027

Funded under

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 238 581,60

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK
Ireland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MobiliseSolidarity (A social normative model of solidarity-based collective action: Mobilising support for indigenous rights through social media)

Reporting period: 2024-03-15 to 2026-03-14

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Across the world, disadvantaged and minority groups face systemic inequalities that require sustained public support to address. One promising avenue for building this support is collective action – any action taken to advance the goals and interests of a group. The social psychological forces that drive individuals to engage in such behaviour, and how expressions of support from advantaged groups impact disadvantaged groups, remain poorly understood.
This project investigates members of advantaged groups’ solidarity-based collective action (SBCA), with a particular focus on two indigenous communities: the Mapuche people of Chile, and the Minceir community of Ireland. Both communities face ongoing inequalities rooted in historical marginalisation, and both provide timely and socially significant contexts in which to study how public solidarity is mobilised.
The central objective of the project is to understand whether and how social norms shared online can mobilise others to engage in collective action in support of disadvantaged groups. In doing so, the project moves beyond existing research, which has focused largely on individual-level psychological predictors, to examine how the broader social environment shapes collective action over time. Findings aim to assist Mapuche and Minceir rights organisations in understanding how framing of social media campaigns can better mobilise public support.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The project was conducted in collaboration between the University of Limerick (Ireland) and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. The research was organised across three work packages. The first, involving interactive experiments, has made strong progress: two studies have been completed, with ethical approval obtained, materials prepared in both Spanish and English, pilot studies completed, and data collected, cleaned, and analysed. One study has been published, and a second is being prepared for submission. A third study is currently underway, with data collection due to begin shortly. Results to date indicate that observing expressions of support for an ethnic minority group in social media contexts can promote intentions to engage in solidarity-based collective action. While the content of observed attitudes showed limited overall influence, observing injustice-based messages of support produced stronger mobilising effects for some outcomes.
The second work package, a longitudinal study conducted in Chile, has been completed. Ethical approval was obtained, materials were prepared in Spanish and English, a pre-registration completed, and data were collected from approximately 600 participants across three waves. Results indicate that perceiving social norms supportive of Mapuche rights is associated with greater intentions to engage in solidarity-based collective action at the between-person level, though within-person effects over time were limited. A manuscript based on these findings is currently being prepared for submission.
The third work package involves social media analysis. Access to TikTok's Research API has been secured and preliminary data collection and analysis are underway. The platform was changed from Twitter, specified in the original application, to TikTok, following significant changes to Twitter (now X) that made data collection unfeasible. This adaptation did not alter the scientific objectives of the work package.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

This project makes several advances beyond existing research. It examines the role of social norms as a previously underexplored driver of solidarity-based collective action, demonstrating that perceptions of what others think and do can shape engagement with minority rights causes. In addition, by conducting research across Chile and Ireland, and by including both advantaged and disadvantaged group perspectives, the project contributes important geographic and cultural diversity to a field dominated by largely homogenous samples.
Findings aim to offer practical guidance to minority rights organisations on how to frame social media campaigns to encourage public mobilisation. The research contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goal on Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10) and has relevance for understanding how solidarity can support more just and inclusive societies.