THE INTERPLAY OF VIOLENCE AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: AN EXAMINATION OF THE IRAQI 2019 UPRISING

Abstract

The Social Movements and Political Violence: An International Case paper will define political violence in a general and theoretical sense. It will classify major types of political violence and concentrate on major four types of political violence. Then, it will apply a particular one to an international case of social movement, specifically in Iraq where a popular uprising took place in October 2019 and is currently affecting politics in Iraq. Iraq has witnessed a new wave of protests, but it was unprecedented and almost unique and has distinctive characteristics. These protests included the masses of protesters who felt the flaws of the system and the corruption of the authority, and they realized that the political elite as a whole is unable and/or unwilling to implement their demands. Protesters practiced a variety of methods in expressing their demands, ranging between peaceful demonstrations, civil disobedience, and armed clash. They were accompanied by bloody violent incidents that killed over 800 people and injured tens of thousands. The paper will examine the reasons for the protest, and how and why the government and some armed pro-government groups used violence and assassinations against activists. What was the reaction to the violence? What was the result of the uprising? Did it reach its goals? and what are the prospects of repeated demonstrations and the possibility of regime change? The paper will analyze that and present a future outlook of such a social movement.