Is there power in protest?

From pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong to climate strikes to Black Lives Matter, mass protests are on the rise globally, but in an increasingly digital world have marches lost their power?

- CHARLIE HALE

People are taking to the streets at an unprecedented level of frequency. Explosions of mass outrage have been growing more common since the mid-1940s, increasing by 11.5 per cent each year for the past decade. In 2019 alone, a tsunami of protests reached every continent and across 114 countries, from Hong Kong to Bolivia, marking an unparalleled amount of political mobilisation.

Protest is vital for democracy. It gives the voiceless a means to shout in the streets, centering ordinary people in democratic life. In an era of instant feedback, protest offers an immediate form of action unshackled from election cycles, and as voting and lobbying are seen as less and less reliable, the masses are seeking change from outside the system’s walls.

But is this new era of global unrest achieving political change, or have boots on the street become nothing more than a piece of theatre?

Strength in numbers

It’s January 21, 2017; all across the world millions of women sporting pink knitted hats and humorous signs assemble for the Women’s March. Seven hundred cities are ringing with the chants of those calling for female empowerment and against the newly inaugurated President, Donald Trump.

That Saturday in January was the largest single-day demonstration in the history of the United States, but then, of course, the start of the week arrived and the new administration got to work as planned. The point is, while protests are on the rise, they’re also becoming much, much likelier to fail.