Is there power in protest?

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, centring 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