Pulling and Gouging: The Sadrist Line’s Adaptable and Evolving Repertoire of Contention

Abstract

The symbolic infiltration of Baghdad’s Green Zone by thousands of protesters in April 2016 was a peak moment in Iraq’s contentious politics and demonstrated the mobilising capacity of the Sadrist Line, the civil society constituency of the Sadrist network. The protesters’ grievances—poor government service delivery, corruption, insecurity, and the ethnosectarian quota system that is criticised for entrenching these problems—had been expressed through contentious action since 2003, yet the events in April 2016 were unprecedented. The Sadrist Line is the largest and most powerful participant in an instrumental coalition that includes diverse civil society groups. This chapter conceptualises the Sadrist Line as a tolerated opposition group, which, in collaboration with its coalition, deploys an adaptable and evolving repertoire of contention to test the boundaries of toleration, make claims on the state, and portray the Sadrist Line as a credible, nonviolent participant in Iraqi civil society. Show more