Protest Brokers Revisited

Chapter 9 concludes the book by revisiting its core motivations, summarizing key findings, and outlining the broader theoretical and empirical contributions. It reflects on the central argument – that protest brokers are critical intermediaries in the mobilization of collective action – and highlights the book’s contribution to our understanding of why, where, and how protests occur. The chapter reiterates the importance of protest brokers in shaping both the occurrence and nature of protest, and underscores how overlooking these actors has led to significant gaps in theories of protest and elite mobilization. The discussion then expands to consider the implications of these findings for broader debates in the academic literature, including around the roles of civil society, grassroots organizing, and political intermediation. It positions protest brokers as a vital piece of the puzzle in understanding collective action, both in South Africa and globally. The chapter concludes by proposing avenues for future research, calling for further exploration of protest brokerage across different political contexts and time periods, and encouraging scholars to pay greater attention to the actors who bridge these gaps between elites and communities.