Pro-migrant protest in times of COVID-19: intersectional boundary spanning and hybrid protest practices

Abstract

Public policies implemented to flatten the curve of COVID-19 infections created unprecedented challenges for social movements. Most striking was the de facto temporary suspension of the right to assembly. Using the case of pro-migrant mobilizations in Germany as an example, we analyse how social movements are affected by and respond to this exceptional context. Instead of a breakdown, we find evidence for a proliferation of mobilization. This is surprising since COVID-19 related restraints were particularly accentuated for pro-migrant mobilizations. We argue that this puzzle can be explained by looking at the particular framing strategies and the hybrid online and offline protest practices used by activists. Integrating empirical insights of social movements in times of crisis, theoretical approaches to boundary spanning, intersectional frame bridging, and hybrid combinations of online and offline protest, our article provides an analysis of pro-migrant mobilizations in times of pandemic. It also sketches-out avenues for future research on plural alliance formation in diverse societies.