Decade of the protester? Why the uprisings are far from over

[polly7]

Last edited Sat Jan 3, 2015, 02:30 PM - Edit history (1)

By Jérôme Roos
Source: Roarmag.org
January 3, 2015

We live in tumultuous times. Since 2011, every year seems to have brought more protests, more rebellions, more uprisings — and 2014 has been no different in this respect. Indeed, the past year has seen some of the most spectacular mass mobilizations and some of the most persistent social unrest to date. A genie has been unleashed from its bottle and refuses to go back in.

At the same time, it is clear that the days of innocence are over. There is less patience for drum circles or endless deliberations over process. Faced with a relentless assault by the neoliberal state, protesters now simply seek to secure some of the most elementary ingredients of a just, humane and democratic society. Millions have marched to demand answers in the case of the missing 43 students in Mexico, to secure justice for unarmed people of color murdered by racist police in the US, to express solidarity with the heroic Kurdish defenders of Kobani, to save the lives of hunger-striking prisoners in Greece, to resist draconian new anti-protest laws in Spain — and the list keeps on growing.

We have learned as well. We have all seen that, in many parts of the globe, the hopeful uprisings of recent years have taken a decisive turn for the worse. In Egypt, the vicious counter-revolution that took off in earnest in 2013 was solidified with the election of the US-backed tyrant Abdel Fattah el-Sisi this year, culminating in the recent acquittal of the former dictator Mubarak himself. Meanwhile in Syria, three years of civil war and state brutality have given rise to a monster — the self-styled Islamic State — which went on a rampage through Iraq and Kurdistan over the summer. In Egypt, Libya and elsewhere similar extremist forces are on the rise. Revolutions are not to be taken lightly.

In many respects, 2014 was a very dark year. Between Israel’s monstrous war on Gaza to the shooting down of a civilian aircraft over the Ukraine, and from the world’s appalling inaction in the face of the ebola outbreak in West Africa on to the thousands of migrants who drowned off the Mediterranean coast this year, there seemed to be little to be hopeful or excited about. Some of the most spectacular mobilizations, from the Euromaidan revolt in Ukraine and the royalist rebellion and military coup in Thailand to the middle class protests that rocked Venezuela, originated not from the left but from the right.

But 2014 also witnessed the steady rise of new progressive forces:

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http://roarmag.org/2014/12/protests-2014-global-uprisings/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+roarmag+%28ROAR+Magazine%29

[adirondacker]

1. The link comes up as a 404 error. Is there a subscription required? Thanks and look forward to

reading the rest.

[polly7]

2. Oh, I'm so sorry.

I'd forgotten I had subscribed years ago. Here is the original article from roarmag.org:

http://roarmag.org/2014/12/protests-2014-global-uprisings/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+roarmag+%28ROAR+Magazine%29

[adirondacker]

3. Thanks! I needed and appreciate the sense of optimism from the author.

[polly7]

4. You're welcome, and I agree! nt.

[Hoppy]

5. What has more influence, protest/demonstrations or Jamie Dimon's money?

[bemildred]

6. I concur, we are just warming up.

The status quo can only continue to stimulate the forces that will eventually destroy it. It cannot adapt, in fact it's entire position is that adaptation is unnecessary, and in fact it claims that the way things are now is the only way that is possible, inevitable, and right.