The right to protest

PROTEST: A MATTER OF HUMAN RIGHTS. Public mobilisations, social protest and human rights are intertwined. Firstly because people generally take to the streets to reject state violence and protest against violations of their rights: to land, to food, to work, to housing, to religious freedom, and so on.

Secondly, the act of protest itself entails exercising rights, such as to freedom of expression and the rights of assembly, petition and dissent. Democracies are enriched by protests because of their expressive nature, but also their deliberative and confrontational tone. More about the project→ –– Español→

Large-scale  protests have become more numerous and geographically widespread in  recent years. While much debate among international relations experts  has focused on the shift in power away from the West to rising  economies, equally significant in the nascent era of global politics is  the rise of citizen mobilisation.

Previous  periods have, of course, witnessed bouts of protest. Today’s wave of  protests is relatively unique, however, in effecting all regions of the  world, with similar patterns of revolt spanning diverse national and  cultural contexts.

What are the meanings behind the worldwide rise in protest?

What trends can we decipher when it comes to modern protests? Is there a pattern to the grievances that helps to explain the current spike in protest? And what do we find when we compare organisational dynamics?

openDemocracyRichard Youngs

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