2022 the Year of the Protest AGAIN!

2019: A Year of Global Protest
Even as right-wing forces took hold in many places around the world, grassroots democracy proved itself alive and well.

The year 2019 will be remembered as the year of protests. From Hong Kong to the Middle East and North Africa to Europe and Latin America, the street was—often literally—on fire. It was a reminder that even as anti-democratic and right-wing forces take hold in many places around the world, grassroots democracy is alive and well. In some cases, popular protests are still ongoing, such as in Hong Kong, with no clear end in sight. In others, protesters seem to have prevailed, such as in Chile, where what began as anger at subway fare hikes may end with a new, more progressive constitution. In still others, whether Sudan or Algeria, protests may have ousted unpopular leaders, but they haven’t been able to effect a root-and-branch change in government.

A surprising number of protests started with popular anger over seemingly small things: fuel price hikes in a number of cases, from Iran to Ecuador, or fare hikes in Chile, or a WhatsApp tax in Lebanon. In other cases, such as Hong Kong and Indonesia, protesters took to the streets after governments announced new laws that threatened civil liberties. But in all cases, popular ire, once unleashed, found much bigger targets: corruption, political dysfunction, and a general discontent with economic stewardship that seems to offer little promise for a lost generation.

The protests in Hong Kong have captured the world’s attention, partly because of the widespread participation of most sectors of Hong Kong society, partly because of the brutal police response, and always with the shadow of another Tiananmen Square lingering in the background. Indonesia’s protests in September and October against deeply unpopular new laws show just how fragile Indonesian democracy may yet be, 20 years after the fall of the Suharto regime. In the Middle East, protests from Iraq to Lebanon highlighted popular discontent with Iran and its regional proxies.

In Latin America, there was plenty of kindling for unrest, whether brewing discontent with an ossified political class in Bolivia, rampant corruption in Ecuador, or disillusion with the once-vaunted Chilean model of economic development. Europe, too, felt the tremors—from protesters in yellow vests opposing tax hikes in France to anti-corruption protests in the Balkans to separatist discontent in Catalonia to massive marches in London against Britain’s yet-to-be-consummated exit from the European Union.

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