The full impact of last weekend’s airport protests, the Jan. 21 Women’s March – and other demonstrations such as the fledgling Science March on Washington that’s gaining an online following – won’t be known for many months, says a Virginia Tech expert.
The best measurement is whether participants continue to stay motivated and involved in their cause when they return home, says Marian B. Mollin, an associate professor at Virginia Tech who studies the history of social movements.
“Are they continuing to be fired up when they get back? Because there is a lot of unfun, unglamorous work to do,” Mollin told the New York Times.
Mollin has written widely on the American suffrage, labor, civil rights, and antiwar movements. Her research focuses on the history of social movements and the connections between gender and political activism/protest.
“Even if only a fraction of the women who went on that march come home and start really doing the work, that’s significant,” she said to The Globe and Mail.
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