How do violent protests affect social movement participants? Riots are common in civilian movements, but the effects of protester violence remain under-researched, in part due to an association of civilian protest with nonviolent methods and an association of violent protest with irrational chaos. Specifically, few studies have examined the experiences of rioters themselves. I use theoretical analysis and qualitative in-depth interviews with activists from the United States and South Africa to explore the subjective impact that moments of violent protest have on participants. Activist accounts indicate that many experience what I call “contentious effervescence,” a heightened state and sense of political empowerment amidst low-level violent actions, with long-term effects that raise consciousness and deepen and sustain activists’ resolve. I argue that examining the experiential and emotional effects of riots enhances our ability to understand contentious politics from below.

暴力抗议如何影响社会运动参与者？骚乱在平民运动中很常见，但抗议者暴力的影响仍未得到充分研究，部分原因是平民抗议与非暴力方法有关，以及暴力抗议与非理性混乱有关。具体来说，很少有研究调查暴徒本身的经历。我使用理论分析和对来自美国和南非的活动家的定性深入采访来探讨暴力抗议的时刻对参与者的主观影响。激进主义者的描述表明，许多人经历了我所说的“有争议的冒泡”，这是一种在低级别暴力行动中增强的状态和政治赋权感，其长期影响会提高意识并加深和维持激进主义者的决心。