Sofia Sasse

It is common to say that protests are an ineffective form of anti-government expression. Critics state that they simply serve to disrupt public order without truly causing any change and inciting decisions within legislature and the justice system . Conversely, the statement that “if protests didn’t work they wouldn’t ban them” rings true for many authoritarian states like Cuba and Russia that try to suppress every instance of dissent against the state. Historically, there are both examples of protests that did inspire change–the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom did, in many ways, pave the way for Civil Rights in the United States–and protests that did not amount to anything, such as the Brazilian protests in June of 2013 that demanded “better schools, cheaper public transportation and political reform” (Brooks 2024), which changed essentially nothing about brazilian society. It seems as though with the passage of time, protests and public uprisings are becoming more and more ineffective and less impactful on government policies, even though it seems like people have more voice than ever before. The true question is, have protests become useless?

We can compare the protests of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s to the more recent Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. The protests for Civil Rights had a clear leading figure: Martin Luther King Jr. Black Lives Matter, on the other hand, was mobilized largely through the internet and social media; many protests were organized through apps like Tik Tok and social platforms with an audience barely out of high school. 21st century protests have become less and less organized; it is fueled by anti-government hatred and resentment of the systems put into place, and though it is much easier to organize, it lacks direction and legitimacy. Young people feel powerless to do anything, and it seems as if older generations could not care less about the problems that truly leave us desperate about our future. However, these protests, so passionate, also lack clear leadership and organization. The majority of the protesters during Black Lives Matter were completely non-violent; however, the minority of people that rioted in streets, broke windows, and burnt down cars put a sour taste in the mouths of the people who truly had the power to change our political systems. The lack of coordination within protests in the modern era has left each movement unorganized and with no clear goal or methodology. The protest has reason, just not a means with which to transmit the message. 

Protests should happen because people want to impact legislation and government systems; however, it has recently become more of a way to unite people under an ideal. The protests against the treatment of the Uyghur community in China had a miniscule chance of actually altering Chinese leadership. In that sense, they were complete failures, as they failed to actually change anything. However, it did bring international attention to the issue where less of it may have existed before. It further counteracted how the Chinese government chose to address the issue: not addressing it at all and simply pretending that it wasn’t happening. 

A common form of protest is the act of boycotting–to forbid commercial or social relations with a specific organization. This has happened most recently with various people boycotting Starbucks for being associated with the US government and support for the Israel offensive in the Gaza strip. Though the Middle East represents only a small portion of Starbucks’ customer base, the hit has been persistent for the last few months (Bitter 2024). Starnbucks has repeatedly stated its lack of involvement with the government and the military; however, many international communities have avoided American brands at all due to US involvement in the Israel-Hamas war. Money speaks, which is why boycotting is such an effective form of protest. Bus boycotts in Montgomery during the Civil Rights movement truly mobilized the government to change laws surrounding segregation due to the massive financial toll it took on the public transportation system. If there were a larger community of people mobilizing to take action against these companies, perhaps there could have been some kind of response from the companies themselves; however, the boycotting of massive corporations has done little to prevent further conflict in the Middle East.

More recent protests in the US and European universities have become front-page news across the globe. It has also had a large influence on Brazil; there have been some pro-Palestine protests in universities like USP joining in on the movement. It is unclear to me if these protests will truly amount to anything, because US support for the Israel-Hamas war goes much deeper than morality or economics. No country becomes involved in war through its own volition; it is usually because of some aspect of national interest. The US, for example, fears the rise of fundamentalism in the Middle East, and so attempts to hold the reins on some Middle Eastern countries like Israel and Iraq to avoid losing control and influence over that region. EU countries have become so involved with the Russia-Ukraine war because of the fear of a growing authoritarian Russia that perhaps aims to expand to the West. Protests that attempt to avoid war are of little use; countries will try everything before resorting to violent conflict. If they do participate in conflict, it is usually a last resort. 

Most social movements require an issue to fight against and an ideology to replace the current system with. We have endless issues we want to fight against: inequality, poverty, war, famine, capitalism. The fundamental lack of an ideology is truly what hurts modern protest. Civil War protests, perhaps the most effective in history, had the goal of establishing a Civil Rights Bill for people of color. Modern protests now have no clear and specific objective, and no leaders to create them. What did we want from the Black Lives Matter protests? An end to racism? A reorganizing of the police system? Simply firing the police officer that killed George Floyd? There was little unity involved where there was so much rage and dissatisfaction. Perhaps if people were to create and establish an ideology, a clear goal of what they wanted, and a powerful leader to help incite and inspire civil protests, protests could become, once again, effective ways to change government systems. As it stands, the most effective way we have to change the government is through our vote, and even that is not a sure-fire way to get what we want.

Bibliography

Bitter, Alex. 2024. “US Brands like McDonald’s and Starbucks Are Facing Mounting Backlash in the Middle East as Tensions Rise.” Business Insider. May 2024. https://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-starbucks-see-new-losses-from-middle-east-boycotts-2024-5. 

Brooks, David. 2024. “Opinion | Why the Protests Help Trump.” The New York Times, May 2, 2024, sec. Opinion. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/02/opinion/student-protests-trump.html 

Parry, Jonathan. 2023. “What’s the Point of Protest?” Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method. February 15, 2023. https://www.lse.ac.uk/philosophy/blog/2023/02/15/whats-the-point-of-protest/.