Resilience for Activists in Repressive Settings – A Literature Review

Biz Herman, Alden Farrar, Margaret Satterthwaite, Adam D. Brown

This paper presents a review of the literature on what resilience looks like for activists in repressive settings. We divide the literature into three parts: activists’ stressors and mental health, organizational and movement well-being, and existing interventions. Given the limitations on conducting research on activists’ mental health and resilience in repressive contexts specifically—due to lack of access to the population of interest, as well as to dangers posed to activists’ safety and ability to work caused by disclosure of information to researchers—we additionally draw on research on other related populations, as well as on activists working in contexts not commonly characterized as repressive. We conclude by proposing gaps in the literature and evidence base that could be addressed by USIP and its partners, centering not just the development of new interventions and practices to foster resilience among activists, but also conceptual work that would allow for broader understandings of trauma, resilience, and meaning as relevant to activists working in repressive settings.