Connor Weathers

For the second time in five years, citizens of Hong Kong mobilized in protest against proposed legislation that threatened to erode the Special Administrative Region's relative degree of autonomy from the People's Republic of China. The ensuing Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (Anti-ELAB) Movement subsequently became the largest social movement in Hong Kong's history. While the movement had peaceful beginnings, clashes between police and protesters turned increasingly violent over time. Under what conditions do primarily nonviolent movements escalate to violence? Given the widespread diffusion of social movements around the world, insights into potential explanations to this question are important for both policymakers and citizens alike. Regarding this question of violent escalation, the social movements literature suggests that movements make strategic decisions to escalate, are driven toward this outcome by state repression, or alternatively engage in nonviolent escalation. This paper argues that a combination of state repression and a determination of the inefficacy of nonviolence by movement actors influences the likelihood of violent escalation. In a qualitative case study of the Anti-ELAB Movement, this paper finds support for the hypothesis that a combination of state repression and the perceived ineffectiveness of nonviolent protest drives violent escalation. Biography Connor Weathers is currently a senior at Suffolk University in Boston, MA studying Government with a concentration in International Relations. His main research interests are focused on international conflict and American foreign policy. In addition to coursework, he has served for the past seven months as a Data & Analytics intern with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, assisting the federal government's COVID-19 response. He has also interned as a research assistant with a Professor of International Relations at Suffolk. Following the completion of his undergraduate degree in December 2022, Connor plans to pursue graduate study in the field of International Relations.