The last half-year has seen a startling cluster of protests around the world. Large-scale mobilisations have taken place in a staggering number of places including Algeria, Bolivia, Catalonia, Chile, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Georgia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iraq, Lebanon, Russia, Sudan and the United Kingdom. And these follow on the heels of protests in many other countries over the last five years or so.
These dramatic events now figure prominently in global media. The protests involve a wide range of citizens, including people that were previously not politically engaged. The revolts are increasingly a primary route through which ordinary people seek to bring about social, political and economic transformation. It sometimes seems that every week brings a new popular mobilisation to our screens.
There is a major problem, however, with the attention that such protests attract, especially at the international level. In the heat of revolt, local people’s involvement is high in energy and creativity. Civic and political organisations dedicate themselves to debating tactics and aims. International media attention is intense. And governments around the world debate with urgency how to respond as citizens take to the streets. But once a protest dies down, all this political, media and diplomatic attention tends quickly to evaporate.
