RESIST, PERSIST, AND TRANSFORM: THE EMERGENCE AND IMPACT OF GRASSROOTS RESISTANCE GROUPS OPPOSING THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY*

Abstract

The November 2016 election sparked nationwide resistance to the new Trump administration and Republican Congress. Initial studies have focused on public protests and professionally staffed advocacy organizations, but the resistance also includes thousands of volunteer-led grassroots groups. This article uses data from online surveys, fieldwork observations and interviews, and web searches to analyze the development, demographics, and activities of grassroots resistance groups located in multiple states as well as all parts of Pennsylvania. Starting right after the 2016 election, local resistance groups were founded in places of all sizes and partisan orientations through friendships and social media contacts. Most of their members and leaders are middle-class, college-educated white women. Groups have reached out to surrounding communities, generating and supporting candidates for local, state, and national public offices; and many participants seek to join and reform local Democratic Party organizations.