The paper concludes by reflecting on the process of repertoire change and emergence. There we find diverse activist groups resisting in creative ways to challenge and make claims in repressive contexts, which we call the resistance repertoire. On the other side are those challengers who collectively resist state intrusion and engage state actors. On the state side of the playing field, interaction is shaped by what we describe as the repressive repertoire. The study presents a fine-grained analysis of the interaction among various state actors, ranging from political elites, economic elites, different levels of state security apparatus (state, county, municipal), and local vigilantes and party thugs. Drawing on area studies and the author’s research projects in several authoritarian states – China, Russia, Spain, Iran, Egypt and Syria – we identify the teams of players and their repertoires as a first step to analyze strategic choices vis-à-vis field position. The concept of a field of governance helps to systematize the dynamic complexity among a diverse cast of players by locating them in the arena of strategic interaction. It discusses two new and related perspectives in protest research, field theory and a players-and-arenas focus, and applies them to collective resistance in repressive states. This paper focuses on how regimes of social control and systematic repression are related to collective resistance in authoritarian states. The repression of protests in authoritarian states is an issue of compelling interest to social scientists studying human-rights violations.