Teorihistorisk skitsering af den nye protestcyklus

Abstract

The article proposes a reading of the new cycle of protests that erupted in 2011 with the so-called Arab Spring and the square occupation movements in Souther Europe before moving on to the US with the Occupy movement. The years since 2011 have been marked by a significant rise in the numer of protests, riots and revolts across the world with the years 2011, 2014 and 2019 as preliminary high points. The pandemic and the repressive anti-rebellion measures put in place during the pandemic does not seem to have stopped protests from continuing to take place. The article challenges readings of the contemporary protests that fault them for being desperate, defensive and unpolitical proposing a reading using the notion of refusal put forth by Maurice Blanchot and Dionys Mascolo in 1958 as a prims for understanding the emergence of a new anti-political protest culture.