White-Collar Agitation, No-Collar Compliance: The privilege of protest in Varanasi, India.

We examine contentious public action such as protest and strike by associations representing four occupational groups at various socio-economic levels in Varanasi, India. Over one hundred interviews and a systematic examination of news reports covering the last ten years reveal that middle- to upper-class associations (traders and lawyers) tend to use agitation and strikes far more often than the lower-class associations (boatmen and weavers), despite having better access to administration officials and influential politicians. These findings are upon first glance somewhat counter-intuitive, and indeed challenge the arguments of some prominent scholars of Indian politics and social movements. Why in a functioning democracy do groups with easier access to the state resort to costly agitations, strikes, and other forms of public protest? We engage with resource mobilization theory and the political opportunities literature to provide one explanation: Where administrative representative institutions are slow to respond to demands made according to prescribed procedures, but quick to respond to pressure created by strikes, sit-ins, processions, etc., public protest is an attractive option for those who can afford it. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]