Access the podcast here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0262nmj
Note: This BBC podcast explores the why of protesting. That is, what brings people out to the streets to take direct action against the powerful?
To protest is to make a statement that challenges a particular way to do things. To challenge the hegemonic power of the state. Elite culture in England has been challenged through creative direct action. The Vietnam War was met with hostility in universities throughout the United States. The stereotype of protesting is wrong. People that protest are most likely, compared to non-protestors, to speak to political representatives. They are also more likely to use protest as an extension of their engagement with the political system, not the only way to engage. Protesting is one way to practice democracy and, in our time, perhaps the only way to maintain the process towards democratization. And anyone can protest.
There are all kinds of protestors. There is the novice, the new protestor, the person who is going to their first rally or direct action who may feel uncomfortable, overwhelmed, excited, challenged. This person is overcoming a barrier not encountered before. There are repeaters and returners, those who went once and keep on going. Grandmothers are protestors as much as students can be. There are pickets as well as riots, political theater and police brutality too.
Protests often begin as non-violent but quickly escalate when police over-react, such as the cases in Ferguson in 2014 and the Kent State University shootings in 1970, producing more militant protest. To protest is a democratic act when it claims freedom from state and corporate abuse.
What gets you to protest?
– DCB