Explaining the fuel protests

We describe and analyse the fuel protests in the UK in September and November 2000. We draw on theories of social movements to explain the success of the first of these protests and the failure of the second. We show how the loose, network forms of organisation contributed to the success in September, and the attempts to impose more formal organisations helped to cause the failure in November. We also show how the success of the protests depended on the articulation of the aims of the protestors with dominant social forces in British politics, in particular the oil companies, the police, and the mass media

Brazil: Modernity and Mobility

This essay examines the field of Brazilian mobility studies, concentrating mainly on recent (2010-2013) scholarship by Portuguese-speaking Brazilian academics published in English-language journals. The mass demonstrations and violent protests that have erupted in Brazilian urban centres over the past one hundred years demonstrate the importance of mobility to Brazil’s traveling public. Several strikes by transport workers have occurred since 1903 and, over the past fifty years, there have been numerous passenger revolts too: in São Paulo in 1947, in Rio de Janeiro in 1974-5, and most recently in 2013, when protests over a proposed twenty centavos (eight US cents) increase in the price of a bus ticket broke out in more than a dozen cities. While Brazilians care deeply about their public transport, they also like their cars. The nation has had a love affair with the car since the 1920s that shows no sign of diminishing

Who protests in Greece? Mass opposition to austerity

The widespread opposition to unprecedented austerity measures in Greece provides a unique opportunity to study the causes of mass protest. We report the results of a survey of the adult population, with two thirds of the respondents supporting protest and 29 per cent reporting actual involvements in strikes and/or demonstrations during 2010. Relative deprivation is a significant predictor of potential protest but does not play any role in terms of who actually takes part in strikes or demonstrations. Previous protest participation emerges as a key predictor of actual protest. We attempt to set these results in the context of Greece as compared with other countries facing similar challenges and discuss the implications for the future of austerity politics

In Latin America, strikes can help bring about increases in social security and welfare spending, while mass protests can help safeguard education spending

Can labor strikes and protests influence a government’s policy on social welfare? In new research, Barbara A. Zarate Tenorio looks at the impact of collective protests on the social policy choices of Latin American governments. She finds that in democracies, labor-related protests can help bring about an expansion in social security and welfare spending, and mass protests can help to prevent cutbacks in education spending

Negotiating belonging and place: an exploration of mestiza women’s everyday resistance in Cajamarca, Peru.

Since 1993, the Cajamarca region of Peru has been home to the Yanacocha gold mine, associated with environmental degradation, negative health impacts, and socio-economic consequences. In 2012, large-scale protests broke out across the region over the newly proposed Conga mine. Increasingly, scholarship is devoted to recognizing socio-environmental struggles outside of mass-mobilization and public protests; at the local, household and everyday level, often performed over much longer timescales. In this context, I critically explore the everyday resistance of mestiza-identifying women in Cajamarca city. Through a discussion of how their on-going resistance critically constructs who/what belongs in place, and who/what is ‘other’/‘stranger’, I analyse how they mobilise gendered local values and knowledge to continue opposing large-scale mining in the aftermath of the Conga conflict

Suppressing Protest: Human Rights Violations in the U.S. Response to Occupy Wall Street

In September 2011, waves of protests against mounting socioeconomic injustice broke out across the United States, capturing the attention of the country. The Occupy Wall Street movement, inspired by similar protests around the globe, used the occupation of public space and mass demonstrations to call attention to a wide array of shared concerns. The movement also used public assemblies to debate concerns and promote direct democratic participation. Within weeks of their emergence, the protests dramatically expanded and deepened U.S. political discourse around the widening gap between rich and poor, bank bailouts and impunity for financial crimes, and the role of money in politics. The response of U.S. authorities to the protests also received significant attention. Images of police using pepper spray on seated students, the arrests of thousands of peaceful protesters across the country, midnight raids on encampments, baton-swinging officers, marches accompanied by phalanxes of riot police, and officers obstructing and arresting journalists were beamed around the world. This is the first in a series of reports examining the responses of U.S. authorities to the Occupy protests. Through an eight-month-long study of the response in New York City, together with comparative data collected from cities across the United States, this report highlights major policy concerns and serious violations of the rights of protesters. Further detailed studies will be published in the coming months on the response of authorities in Boston, Charlotte, Oakland, and San Francisco. Government responses to Occupy Wall Street in the United States have varied significantly, both within and across cities. Indeed, there have been examples of good practice, including through welcoming assemblies, using modern democratic policing styles that promote negotiation to facilitate protests, and enforcing strict controls on any use of police force. But across the United States, abusive and unlawful protest regulation and policing practices have been and continue to be alarmingly evident. This report follows a review of thousands of news reports and hundreds of hours of video, extensive firsthand observation, and detailed witness interviews

Social Unrest in China

[From Summary] This report, which will be updated periodically, discusses the causes of growing social unrest in China and describes recent incidents, explains how the PRC government responds to protest activities, analyzes implications for PRC politics, and provides policy options for Congress

Subverting the spaces of invitation? Local politics and participatory budgeting in post-crisis Buenos Aires

This paper examines the political situation in Argentina in the wake of the mass protests of December 2001, which became known as the Argentinazo. Following the unprecedented turmoil in the country, which led to the resignation of President De la Rua and to the largest sovereign default in history, business ground to a halt and unemployment soared, leaving over half the population living below the poverty line by June 2002. The paper considers what new forms of political participation have emerged since the Argentinazo and analyses their relationship to the state. In particular, it examines what Andrea Cornwall has termed "invited" spaces - whereby political spaces are opened up to non-state actors - and analyses what consequences they might have for democratic practices