Autocrats and cities: how capitals have become a battleground for protest and control: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the world’s longest reigning female political leader, fled Bangladesh on 5 August 2024 for the safety of India. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of protesters descended on Bangladesh’s capital city, Dhaka. The crowds ransacked her official residence, occupied the …
Just Stop Oil’s harsh sentences are the logical outcome of Britain’s authoritarian turn against protest: Lengthy prison sentences have been imposed on five Just Stop Oil activists for coordinating direct action on the M25, the main ring road around London. For a non-violent protest, there is no equivalent in modern times. The five years for …
How democracy can work at community level: 3 lessons from a South African protest movement: Popular protests have surged around the world over the last decade. But do they work? And what lessons can be learnt from communities who have a history of militant protests? When the African National Congress (ANC) was elected to power …
Students on the frontline: South Africa and the US share a history of protest against white supremacy: Every year on 16 June, South Africa commemorates the revolt of black school children against the inferior “bantu education” system on that day in 1976. The horror of police shooting and killing unarmed children caused a global uproar. …
Why men in 19th century Wales dressed as women to protest taxation: South-west Wales was reeling in the wake of social unrest in November 1843. There had been a series of protests over several years by farmers furious at taxation levels, mainly attacking tollgates. Often, the men involved dressed as women and were therefore known …
Palestine protest arrests: why even police are confused about hate crime law: Though it’s happening thousands of miles away, the Israel-Gaza conflict has aggravated tensions in the UK. In London, authorities have recorded a 1,353% increase in antisemitic offences and a 140% increase in anti-Muslim offences during October compared to last year. In this emotionally …
Mahsa Amini: A year into the protest movement in Iran, this is what’s changed: Iran’s rulers continue to enforce tight public controls as the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the “morality police” approaches. Amini died after being arrested for allegedly breaching hijab rules. The news of her death prompted …
A brief history of camp: from minority sensibility to political protest: Early in the first episode of the BBC reality dating show I Kissed A Boy, glamorous pop star Danni Minogue descends a staircase to greet the all-male line-up of contestants. “Probably not the right heels for this,” she admits. “Don’t worry, I’ve got another …
Climate change protest: a single radical gets more media coverage than thousands of marchers: Gil Scott Heron argued that the Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Yet recently in the UK that statement is being challenged by disruptive environmental protesters unexpectedly gatecrashing live sporting broadcasts. At the end of April, live on ITV the animal rights …
Extinction Rebellion gave it ‘the Big One’ with a four-day peaceful protest – now what?: The banners have been packed away, the face paint washed off and the Instagram accounts updated. The latest four-day demonstration by environmental protest group Extinction Rebellion (XR) – dubbed “the Big One” as it aimed to be the largest climate …
Pupils protest over toilet rules: why school responses should consider children’s rights: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock Many people across the UK have been protesting in 2023. Teachers on strike over pay and working conditions marched through London with placards and listened to speeches on March 15. Protests against the government’s illegal migration bill took place in Glasgow, London …
Calm Down: how a Nigerian singer and a Cameroonian dancer inspired a powerful protest in Iran: Rema performing in the US. His hit Calm Down has gone viral – in part thanks to a choreographer named Loïc Reyel. Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images On 8 March 2023, five teenage girls uploaded on social media a video of …
Israelis protest Netanyahu government’s brutality and plans to undermine rule of law: It’s a week since hundreds of Israeli settlers descended on the Palestinian village of Hawara to terrorise civilians and burn cars and buildings. The killing of two young settlers sparked the violence that led Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli finance minister, and now also head …
Gandhi’s image is under scrutiny 75 years after his assassination – but his protest principles are being revived: Harshit Srivastava S3/Shutterstock Mohandas Karamchand “Mahatma” Gandhi remains, even 75 years after his assassination, a useful symbol for many in India. For secularists, the leader of the country’s independence movement represents an imagined India of the past. …
Why food is such a powerful symbol in political protest: Shutterstock Food is a hot issue in today’s activism. Last year, UK climate group Just Stop Oil hurled tomato soup at Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London. Later they smeared cake on a Madame Tussauds waxwork of King Charles. Protesters affiliated …
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Iran: dissent by public figures has amplified the protest across the country – and the world: Iran’s Islamic Republic continues to violently suppress ongoing pro-democracy protests, which broke out in September in response to the killing of a young woman who had been arrested for not wearing a proper head covering. According to the NGO …
China’s ‘white paper’ protest movement echoes freedom struggles across Asia and the world: If there was a single trigger for the “white paper” uprising that has been sweeping China over the past few days, it was events in Ürümchi, the capital of Xinjiang province. Xinjiang’s lockdown has been the most severe in China, with many …