Youth-Inspired Protests amid Shrinking Civic Space: Insights from #OromoProtests in Ethiopia

Abstract: Despite shrinking civic space worldwide, young people are increasingly adopting non-institutional methods to instigate change. This study explores the potential of youth-inspired protests in mitigating shrinking civic space, drawing insights from #OromoProtests, which influenced the 2018 political change in Ethiopia, a state renowned for spearheading this global trend. Subsequent legislative reforms in Ethiopia represent a major step toward rebuilding civic space. This study employs the process-tracing approach, informed by semistructured interviews and secondary data, and identifies nonviolent action, violent repression, backfire, resignation, and negative coalition as intertwined parts of the mechanism linking protest mobilization and political change. Collective identity, oppression/exclusion, and hybrid structures are the relevant contextual factors examined, providing valuable insights into the dynamics of youth-inspired protest movements amid shrinking civic space.