Spontaneity in Protest Leadership: The Formation of the Belarusian "Female Trio"

This article analyzes spontaneous leadershipformation during Belarus’ 2020 presidential electionthrough the rise of the female trio, which unifiedthree opposition headquarters and sparked one of thecountry’s largest citizen-driven mobilizations. Thetrio’s formation illustrates spontaneity as a processshaped by grievances, latent networks, repertoires, andcatalytic events—positioned between contingency andorganization. Gendered dynamics mediated this process:women leaders were cast as vulnerable yet authoritative,underestimated by the regime but symbolically amplifiedby supporters. Triggered by the imprisonment of malecandidates and gendered repression, the trio coalescedaround anti-Lukashenka grievances and reactivatedloose opposition networks.