Reflections on contemporary social protests and governance
LSE BLOG
When the history of the present is eventually written, 2011 may well be most closely associated with the ‘Arab spring.’ Attention will undoubtedly centre on the revolutions of Tunisia and Egypt, as well as the currently ongoing protests against leaderships from the Gulf to Yemen and violent reaction from the Libyan and Syrian regimes.
However, the pressure for change in the Arab world has not occurred in isolation. The last month has seen the transformation of what was initially a youth movement in Tel Aviv against the high cost of living to encompass all elements of society in Israel. Alongside the tents sprouting up along the wealthy Rothschild Boulevard in central Tel Aviv, the last three weekends have seen the size of the protests escalate, resulting in an estimated 300,000 people marching across Israel under the banner of social justice.
Meanwhile, outside the Middle East similar forms of protest have also been emerging over the past year. In Europe, Spanish demonstrators staged sitins against the leftwing government’s economic policies in May. Last November saw arguably the largest demonstrations by students in London against the coalition government’s decision to increase university fees. And in Latin America students in Chile have also been protesting against the rightwing government about the state of education and its increasing privatisation, echoing similar demonstrations which swept the country five years ago.
