Wave Of Protests Research Articles

THE HUSSITE MOVEMENT IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

In the last third of the XIV century. in the Czech Republic, crisis phenomena began to appear, especially of an economic nature, which later had far-reaching social consequences for the kingdom. It is primarily about the deep social differentiation of society: from peasants and feudal lords to the clergy and city dwellers. The crisis aggravated relations between all strata of society. And as a result, a situation arose when the peasants sought to get rid of the exploitation of the feudal lords; burghership - to free oneself from the power of the patriciate and acquire one's own rights; the urban poor became radicalized in order to improve their impoverished situation; the nobility fought with the magnates for land, privileges and power.The leader of the Czech Reformation was Jan Hus (1371-1415), who in 1393 graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Prague and after 3 years became a Master of Liberal Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy.In 1403, Jan Hus became the rector of the university, simultaneously preaching in the Bethlehem chapel and having the rank of priest. In his sermons, Hus raised topics that wererelevant and understandable for ordinary people, which increased his popularity.The burning of Hus caused a wave of protest in all strata of Czech society and was perceived as an insult to the entire Czech people. In July 1419, an uprising broke out in Prague, led by Jan Žižka and Mikulas from Husa.These events in history were called the Hussite revolutionary movement. In which two wings were formed: the moderate – «Chashniks» and the radical democratic – «Taborites». Jan Žižka turned out to be an extremely talented and even brilliant military leader, who managed to create a people's army, which Europe at that time did not know. He developed a new strategy and tactics of war, which was based on the massive use of infantry and war chariots.The «Hussite movement» was of great importance for the whole of Europe, as it undermined the unshakable authority of the Catholic Church, and also put an end to the rule of German feudal lords in the Czech Republic.The ideas of people's power and social justice became the source for the further evolution of the Czech national liberation and revolutionary democratic movement. At the same time, the Hussite Wars became a catalyst for the national development of the Czech Republic and a peculiar beginning of the European Reformation of the 16th century.

Crossing the Democratic Boundaries? Israeli protest against the Autocratization Perils of the 2023 Institutional Reform

In the absence of the written constitution, Israeli society is institutionally anchored to the twofold premise of being as equally Jewish as democratic, according to the 1948 Declaration of Independence. These two properties are the foundation stones of the country’s national habitus, the system of norms and codes interiorized by citizens. Yet, Israeli democracy has faced many challenges, both external (geopolitical conflicts) and internal (the ramifications of the Occupation of Palestinian Territories and the increasing messianism of its political religious parties). The latter have resulted in a process of seemingly unstoppable autocratization. The paper enquires the types of protest in Israel and delineates the uniqueness of the last wave of protest against the legal reform, promoted by Israel’s 37th government. The analysis thus contextualizes moments of democratic friction, inspired by the Bourdieusian concept of hysteresis. This is situated in light of Israeli historical repertoire of manifested moments of dissent. By juxtaposing the (inevitable) clash between the country’s Jewish exclusiveness and democratic republican universalism, the incompatibility between the two elements as the main factor of Israel’s democratic backsliding towards autocratization reveals its sociological reasons.

Hong Kong’s Anime: A Cultural History of Anime in Hong Kong’s Last Decade

In 2019 and 2020, Hong Kong experienced waves of anti-government protests, with millions participating both online and offline. The semiotic of transnational popular culture references, including film and music, played a crucial role in these protests. Japanese animation and manga were especially prominent in online and offline communication, in the form of memes, slogans, videos, and activist art produced mostly by people under 29 years of age. Namely, anime and manga became not only the primary audio-visual language of the protests but also a transnational pop digital anarchist network between Hong Kong and the rest of the world. This article refers to this phenomenon as “Hong Kong’s anime” due to its unique transformation, adaptation, and sociocultural and political significance during these protests. Anime has a heterogeneous history as both institutional soft power and non-institutionalized fandom. While acknowledging the heterogeneous landscape of anime, this article focuses on its potential as a “transnational pop digital anarchist network” by analyzing its role in shaping people’s transnational cultural history and in writing people’s historiography. Based on interviews with the creators of protest art and the analysis of online and offline content, Hong Kong’s anime is revealed to be a new form of transnational historiography, emerging from transnational pop digital anarchist networks and connecting ordinary people in Hong Kong and worldwide through anime.

Political Reform as Regime Survival Strategy in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan After the Arab Uprisings

Jordan has recently celebrated its centennial in a volatile region. The Jordanian regime has an experience in dealing with mass protests; however, the recent decade with a surmounting socio-economic challenge aggravated by the mass influx of Syrian refugees has pushed the Kingdom towards a “boiling point.” The narrative of political reform has been dominated the daily political life of the monarchy; however, citizens have disillusioned with the pace of political liberalization in the Kingdom. Constitutional amendments mainly empowered the King authority with new rights, and the new election law adopted in 2016 failed to meet with the demands of the protesters. Jordan is not a country in political transition as the regime has remained intact from a genuine structural reform aimed at reaching a constitutional democracy. The introduction of economic liberalization process as well as the austerity measures dictated by the International Monetary Fund has led to an eroding social base of the monarchy. The rise of the new businessmen elite and the growing socio-economic problems in the tribal South made the society restructured in a way, which provoked more protest waves. Until now Jordan has managed to tackle with all difficulties; however, the pandemic and the shifting regional order have been aggravating the situation. The reforms mainly serve as a regime survival strategy; however, the ones launched in 2021 show that the monarch understands the situation. It has yet to be seen whether the new reforms will last and satisfy the citizens.

The Meaning of the Milk Tea Protests

Abstract Since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, the world has witnessed an era of protest. Nearly every corner of the globe has been impacted by protest diffusion. East and Southeast Asia have been no different, with recent pro-democracy revolts and movements in Thailand (2020) and Myanmar (2021–present) having been partially inspired by mass pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong (2014 and 2019) and Taiwan (2014). The virtual alliance that sprouted between protesters and activists across these polities was dubbed the Milk Tea Alliance. This article takes a comparative approach and explores the commonalities of the protests and their participants across the four locales. It argues that the shared political experiences and developments run much deeper than the hashtag alliance and therefore should be understood as part of a transformative regional protest wave that requires further exploration.

Ten years of PEGIDA: a reflection on “deutsche Zustände”

ABSTRACT Ten years after the beginning of the PEGIDA protests in Dresden, the German far right is making one breakthrough after another in the electoral arena. The starting point for this reflection is the notion of deutsche Zustände (“German conditions”), which took on renewed relevance amid the emergence of PEGIDA: both in reference to Heitmayer’s studies on far-right attitudes in German society (Deutsche Zustände) and Marx’s famous notion that Germany lagged behind the flow of history with its lack of a bourgeois revolution (“Krieg den deutschen Zuständen!”). Indeed, in the context of the post-2010/11 global protest wave that saw the “movements of the squares” emerge around anti-austerity and/or democratizing demands, Germany presented a striking anomaly with large protest rallies of ordinary “concerned citizens” on public squares around a far-right, anti-egalitarian agenda. In reading the emergence of PEGIDA within this protest conjuncture, I argue that this seeming paradox of the “German condition” was born not least out of the failure of a square movement of the left in the form of the Blockupy protests in Frankfurt starting in 2012 and their reliance on the methods of the late 1990s alter-globalization protests in challenging the German-led Eurozone crisis management regime from within.

Mathematical model of repressive response to collective action and protest waves

The intricate interplay between the state and society may foster opposition and prompt collective action as a mode of protest. When the state responds repressively to such collective action, it aims to undermine it escalating its costs. A mathematical model relating the repressive response to collective action, articulated through differential equations, facilitates a thorough analysis of their dynamic interaction. Modelling outcomes indicate that repressive regimes may exhibit sustained persistence, oscillatory patterns, or destabilization, potentially transitioning into alternative regimes. This modelling framework offers a means to discern the impact of diverse factors on the dynamics of repressive regimes and to provide modelling insight on the emergence of cycles of protest observed in different countries during certain periods of their history.

Memory and protest in Belgrade: Remembering the 1990s in the mass demonstrations of 2023

The history of the 1990s and of political life in Serbia can be viewed as a history of protest. It was during this decade, in which Slobodan Milošević held power, that an entire generation of activists became part of a process of learning to engage in civil resistance. In waves of massive anti-regime protests as well as in smaller, yet persistent, anti-war protests, they asserted that ‘Belgrade is the World’. This article examines the ways in which practices and themes from these protests have resurfaced more recently, and how this activism is remembered and referenced in the 2020s. Based on data collected in Belgrade during anti-regime protests in 2023, which began as a movement ‘against violence’ (‘ protiv nasilja’), it traces how the memory of protest of the 1990s turned into memory in protest as it appeared in banners, chants, slogans and speeches, as well as in everyday conversation among citizens, some three decades later. Deploying the concept of the memory-activism nexus, the article analyses generational claims in Serbia, the practices of protesters, their hope in activism, their fear of cultivating false expectations and their continuing demands for a better future. It places cultural memory in Serbia in the context of a politics of disappointment, illustrating that memory in protest can function as both a mobilising force and a source of political paralysis.

Protest Wave Palestine: “We are All Palestnians”

Abstract The attack of October 7 2023 by Hamas and other Palestinian Armed Groups (pag) on Israel and the retaliatory war on Palestinians since then have led to a massive wave of protest across the world. These protests have been variously received by governments and local authorities, particularly in Europe and North America, and by Israel’s allies as threats – even to national security – in and of themselves. These governments, authorities, along with the mainstream media largely fail to see the protests as part of a massive global siren call for ceasefire, or for ending acts which may constitute war crimes, including genocide and starvation. What I wish to address in this essay are the ways in which these protests have proven dynamic, unprecedented in size and sheer geographic spread, and as a vast repertoire of action. In this essay I also argue that, before we even speak of the import of this moment of global solidarity we need to acknowledge that, in so many ways, it is mimetic of a long history of Palestinian protest all-too frequently overlooked or deliberately ignored. For this reason part of this essay seeks to re-centre such protest.

Waves of Popular Contention and Democracy in Denmark, 1700–2000

AbstractContrary to the dominant narrative of the historical formation of democracy in Denmark, which emphasises a smooth and gradual linear transition to democracy and modernity, this paper accentuates a discontinuous and contentious road towards democratisation. Based on quantitative and qualitative sources, this article identifies four major waves of popular mobilisation that paved the way for the introduction and expansion of political rights. The first wave of popular protest began in the 1830s and culminated in 1848 with the fall of absolutism and the transition to constitutional monarchy. The next protest wave from 1885 to 1887 arose from the so‐called ‘constitutional struggle’ and mobilised hundreds of thousands of ordinary Danes and contributed to the nationalisation and parliamentarisation of the political system. The third wave unfolded around the end of the Second World War, while the hitherto last wave of popular struggle erupted in 1968 with the youth rebellion. The analysis shows that ‘democracy’ was the central issue of contention in all four protest waves and supports the main thesis that periods of intense interaction between popular protest and the state have had a decisive formative influence on the genesis and further development of Danish democracy.

Lived citizenship and the Arab Uprisings: everyday politics, mobilization and belonging

ABSTRACT Instances of popular mobilization are often analyzed through their most prominent repertoires and demands. However, protest waves encompass diverse aspirations, modalities, temporalities, and emotional intensities, reflecting varied lived experiences. The complex interplay between mobilization, everyday politics, and local struggles often remains underexplored. This article deploys lived citizenship as a device for capturing the differentiated social locations, relations, practices and emotions that mediate subject relations with the state in episodes of mass mobilization. Focusing on the Arab uprisings, it offers a novel and comprehensive reading of the literature from the perspective of citizenship and everyday lived realities. In approaching the uprisings as lived and performed in the squares, on the margins, in mass demonstrations, violent reprisals, resource reclamation and everyday encroachment, it brings to the fore the myriad practices of citizenship enacted in the course of the uprisings and their aftermath. In surveying the literature, it highlights the innovative ways in which the contributions to this special issue engage with notions of lived citizenship in the context of the uprisings, examining its connections to questions around subjectivation, infrastructure, grabbing back, brokerage of care, and practices of voice, exit and loyalty.

Protesting Power-Sharing: Placing the Thawra in Recent Waves of Contentious Politics

Abstract This article places the Thawra within recent waves of protest politics in so-called divided societies, particularly the Plenum (Bosnia 2014) and Tishreen (Iraq 2019) protests. It examines the thematic connections between protest waves in relation to contesting consociational power-sharing governance, which has been deployed in Lebanon, Iraq, and Bosnia in the aftermath of civil war or political violence. While protests have addressed a range of issues – corruption, weak and failing public services, and rising unemployment levels – these various strands have been successfully distilled into powerful critiques of the ethnosectarian elites who perpetuate polarization and of the system itself. Towards this, I identify three significant frames developed by protestors in relation to power-sharing: The “People” versus the “Elites”, Trans-sectarian Belonging, and Participatory Citizenship.

Interrogating the Dynamics of Social Movements in Burkina Faso and Nigeria

Two waves of mass protests were remarkable across West Africa in the first two decades of the 21st century. Drawing from the experiences of Burkina Faso and Nigeria, this study situates these mass protests within the temporal theory of social movements and argues that the focus of the protests in each wave shifted from protests against specific neoliberal economic reforms to discontent with governance institutions. However, the underlying driver of the mass protests remained the deteriorating condition of the underclass. The study explains the recurring character of mass protests and why they will remain everyday experiences across West Africa.

The origin, evolution and impacts of the mining-sceptical movement in Finland

The evolution of the Finnish mining-sceptical movement (MSM) is described and situated within the context of Finnish environmental protest waves (EPWs). This evolution occurred through the uranium debate (UD; since 2005) and mining debate (MD; 2010–ongoing). These stages are described and compared with the characteristics of the Finnish EPWs. The purpose is to determine whether the evolution of the MSM represents a new EPW in Finland.Five EPWs are reported to have occurred in Finland. After the end of the last EPW at the beginning of 2000s, the Finnish environmental movement lost its impetus, followed by a swell/latency. However, the climate change debate returned nuclear energy to the agenda. Together with the rebirth of the Finnish mining industry resulting from activities carried out by foreign companies, uranium exploration restarted in Finland in 2005, which raised opposition. The UD revitalised the environmental movement and opened spaces for local resistance in the countryside. Even though uranium exploration ended in Finland, the UD continued as attention shifted towards other projects associated with uranium. The environmental problems of the Talvivaara mine increased opposition and directed the MD towards projects also focused on other commodities. Because of its duration, impacts, and importance, the evolution of the MSM is suggested to form the sixth Finnish EPW.

Revolusi Kampus, Wajah Baru Islam di Amerika

Israel's brutal attacks on Palestinian land continue. More than 35,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed. Most of the victims are women and children. The genocide committed by Israel and funded by the United States (US) has been condemned by the world. Interestingly, a massive wave of protests was carried out by students on prominent campuses in the US. This ally of Israel deployed a large number of police officers to stop student action. More than 1000 students from various campuses in the US were arrested by local police. However, the action did not stop and actually expanded to hundreds of campuses. The US student social movement confirms the theory of social movements led by youth and students, which is undeniable. The US student solidarity action has erupted into a campus revolution that places students as the main actors and agents of change. The campus revolution in the US has succeeded in giving a new color to US democracy that melts ideological barriers. The campus revolution in the US also presents a new face of Islam in the land of Pamansam, which is dominated by young people and scholars.

RELATIONAL SEDIMENTS IN THE BACKWASH OF PROTEST WAVES: EXPLORING NETWORK CONSEQUENCES OF COLLECTIVE ACTION

This article addresses the puzzling relational void in the analysis of collective action consequences by exploring how protest waves affect local network structures in two German towns. We compare three periods of time: a preprotest wave latency period, a protest wave period, and a postwave latency period, as defined in relation to contentious collective action around the refugee reception crisis in 2015. Adopting a field perspective, our analysis uses digital communication data to capture the referencing practices between all actors involved in local migration-related protests irrespective of actor type or political orientation. This results in networks of both supportive and antagonistic interaction. Applying network analysis, especially multiple regression quadratic assignment procedures (MRQAP), we find significant and distinct patterns of change and stability for supportive and antagonistic ties. We argue that these findings provide stepping stones for the emergent literature on relational consequences of collective action.

7 - Disputas de e por espaços político-identitários: o rap e os movimentos sociais em Cabo Verde

Independent since 1975 and democratic since 1991, Cabo Verde has not escaped the waves of urban protests that plagued African capitals in the second half of the 2000s. Rap, perceived as the new expression of protest by urban youth, consolidates itself in the 2000s as one of the main actors in the Cape Verdean political scene and becomes an important vehicle for mobilizing and building an urban culture of resistance, amplifying these issues. This article, based on an ethnographic research in the cities of Praia (Santiago Island) and Mindelo (São Vicente Island), seeks to answer three questions: on how rap has shown the identity, social and urban contradictions; how it has articulated with other types of social movements; 3) what is the place of women in rap and street politics?

Against Dictatorship, against Backsliding? Examining the Effect of Serbian Anti-Government Protests on the 2020 Electoral Boycott

The power of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has been steadily growing ever since 2012. The party has successfully taken control of all levels of government in Serbia, and the country has suffered from gradual democratic backsliding as a result. In this article, we focus on two protest waves in Serbia between 2017 and 2019. Crucially, a number of opposition parties involved in the more recent protest wave boycotted the 2020 parliamentary election. This article analyzes the characteristics of the citizen-led response in local communities across Serbia and estimates its electoral impact using a difference-in-differences approach. The case of Serbia not only elucidates modes of citizen response and their impact in post-Communist Europe but also provides comparative insights for the potential for citizen-led resistance to mobilize against backsliding in other countries. The objectives of the article are twofold. First, the article uses an original data set of Serbian protest events between 2017 and 2019 to ascertain how the two protest waves were conducted, and how citizens respond to democratic backsliding. Second, using data on municipal-level turnout and SNS vote share in the 2020 parliamentary election, we examine the average electoral impact of protest and, related to that, we evaluate the success of opposition parties in mobilizing voters for the electoral boycott. The article investigates whether SNS-led democratic backsliding is resilient to sustained citizen-led mobilization or whether this bottom-up resistance challenges the notion that “stabilitocracies” such as Serbia are immune to fundamental political change.

Disappointment and vision in the aftermath of the Arab uprisings

ABSTRACT Most commentators concede that the Arab uprisings of 2010–11 fell dramatically short of meeting their aspirations. For some, this wave of popular protests was an undeniable failure. Others draw more conflicted conclusions. They do not gainsay the realities of authoritarian retrenchment and war, but underscore the democratic practices and attitudes that have expanded over the past decade-plus. In the midst of such discussions, scant attention has been paid to how Arab intellectuals reacted to and evaluated the uprisings’ fates. This article addresses this gap by considering the writings of contemporary Moroccan intellectual Abdelilah Belkeziz. I argue that the sense of disappointment that he both expresses and notes among participants and observers of the Arab uprisings alike serves as a source of vision through which to productively consider the movements and their future trajectories, and to avoid the pitfalls of excessive optimism and despair.

A Man for All Seasons: Mosaddeq's Image and Legacy in Contemporary Iran

The unwavering commitment of the people to the leadership of the Islamic Revolution, coupled with the willingness of political elites to demonstrate selflessness and sacrifice, can effectively thwart any potential colonial ambitions that might once again threaten the nation. The historical backdrop of the 28 Mordad coup (August 19) serves as a valuable lesson for the years to come in our country. Much like how colonialists were defeated during the uprisings of the 30 Tir (July 21), the 25 Mordad (16 August), and the events of the autumn of 2022, this legacy of resistance and resilience can endure into the future.If seventy years ago, foreigners orchestrated the tragic coup on the 28 Mordad 1332 (August 19, 1953) against the Iranian people, today, the rulers of Iran have instigated a new coup against the happiness and rightful demands of the people. . . . Do the rulers not learn from the consequences of the 28 Mordad coup, which resulted in the 1979 Revolution? The seventieth anniversary of the 1953 coup d’état that toppled the government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq prompted a moment of reflection in Iran, shedding light on a pivotal chapter in the country's modern history. The two quotations presented above, each in its distinctive way, invoke the profound and enduring consequences of those tumultuous years while drawing pertinent connections to contemporary circumstances. They establish a link between the fateful events leading to the coup and the 2022 surge of civil unrest and waves of protests under the slogan Women, Life, Freedom (Zan, Zendegi, Azadi), sparked by the tragic death of Jina Mahsa Amini in police custody that September after she was arrested for violating the Islamic Republic's dress code. Each quotation reflects a continuity of collective memory and the use of historical narratives to shape current perspectives.