Repertoires of contention are defined by a flexibility continuum from nonexistent to rigid
Evidence
Exactly how people draw on contentious repertoires remains variable and controversial. Think first about a repertoire’s flexibility. All performances that characterize the interaction among a specified set of collective actors constitute that set’s repertoire of contention. Repertoires vary from nonexistent to weak to strong to rigid. Each position on the continuum identifies a different relationship between the familiarity of a previous performance and the likelihood that it will again appear in a similar situation, ranging from no relationship to perfect repetition. — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 258
Categorization
- DEFINE: Precise definition of repertoire with the four-position continuum the reader needs.
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 258
- XREF: connects to: Repertoires are learned, clustered, and improvisational but finite — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 234; Contention forms are regime-bound but also historically embedded — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 231; Repertoire clustering stems from daily organization, contention history, and regime operations — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 270 (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- Repertoire change happens through continuous modulation, not sharp breaks.
#corroborates(0.85) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 352 - Repertoire clustering stems from daily organization, contention history, and regime operations
#expands(0.82) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 270 - Initial conditions shape but do not determine contention outcomes across regimes
#corroborates(0.80) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 816 - Contention forms are regime-bound but also historically embedded
#qualifies(0.78) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 231 - Path dependence plus recurrent mechanisms jointly explain contention’s regularities.
#expands(0.74) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 366 - Exhaustive enumeration reveals contention falls into a limited set of recurring forms
#qualifies(0.72)