Haiti, Ecuador, Chile, Lebanon, Catalonia, Hong Kong, Iraq, Algeria… almost weekly, a new protest front opens, and dispatches from streets and squares across the globe make it seem as though, in the words of Paul Mason, it's kicking off everywhere.
I am reminded of the now half-forgotten Bosnian protests that took place in 2014, during which I wrote a comment in The Guardian arguing that events in Bosnia-Herzegovina represented a terrifying image of our potential common future, but also a possible way out. The country is a patchwork of territories, divided among ethnonationalist chiefs and their gangs (commonly known as political parties), with a weak central government, kleptocracy at every level, and enormous social inequalities. It is the result of a successful peace treaty between these warlords, brokered by the US, which ended the war by cementing its core injustice.
Now, no one is happy, but no one wants a return to violence, and this is the ideal scenario for ethnonationalist rulers who seek to retain power forever by occasionally agitating inter-ethnic strife.
This is a cold war fought by “leaders” willing to maintain their privilege at all costs, to the detriment of a fatigued, divided, and traumatised population. Much of the same is true in other post-war societies such as Lebanon and Iraq, but also, with some differences, of course, in post-Pinochet Chile, post-Franco Spain or post-apartheid South Africa.
In all of these places, the social peace constructed after a war or dictatorship meant that victims and the citizenry at large, including new generations, has had to accept that many crimes remain wholly unpunished. Furthermore, unbridled capitalism was and still is the unquestioned rule of the new order in these societies. After all, neoliberalism was supposed to bring prosperity that would ease societal trauma, heal the wounds of violence or authoritarianism, and even trickle down to the most wretched of the earth.
It should come as no surprise that we see protests and riots erupting in these societies. Often, they are leaderless, emerging without planning from the outcries of citizens making a timeless demand: social justice in the face of a corrupt and cruel order. There is a spark in every case, though no one knows what it will be or when it will ignite the fire and chaos. But then, there is always confusion among media, concern from international organisations, the reports of disoriented observers, and, for a flickering moment, fear on the part of politicians – who quickly regroup and start plotting their next move. There are also inspirational chants and banners, infused with warmth, humour, and creativity, which often seduce us in to thinking that this time, something uniquely magical is happening.
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