Black Lives Matter protests shift public discourse

Zackary Okun Dunivin, Harry Yaojun Yan, Jelani Ince and Fabio Rojas
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Zackary Okun Dunivin: a Department of Sociology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405;; b Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research, Luddy School of Informatics, Computer Science, and Engineering, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47408;
Harry Yaojun Yan: b Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research, Luddy School of Informatics, Computer Science, and Engineering, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47408;; c The Media School, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405;
Jelani Ince: d Department of Sociology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
Fabio Rojas: a Department of Sociology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405;

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022, vol. 119, issue 10, e2117320119

Abstract: This study uses large-scale news media and social media data to show that nationwide Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests occur concurrently with sharp increases in public attention to components of the BLM agenda. We also show that attention to BLM and related concepts is not limited to these brief periods of protest but is sustained after protest has ceased. This suggests that protest events incited a change in public awareness of BLM’s vision of social change and the dissemination of antiracist ideas into popular discourse.

Keywords: Black Lives Matter; cultural change; social movements (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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