Category: Protest and repression

The gun control debate: Why now?

The gun control debate: Why now?

by | Jun 11, 2018 | Protest and repression

The ‘March For Our Lives’ and ‘Never Again’ – campaigns, fighting for gun control as a response to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, have dominated international news recently. In March, events in favour of these movements were held in over 800 locations across the globe, demonstrating how this movement has managed to gather force in areas far beyond the US. What is it about this time that caused the issue to come to such a head when gun violence has existed as a prominent issue in the US for such a long time?

Me too!

Me too!

by | Jun 11, 2018 | Protest and repression

by Maeve CarrollEditor update: This article was selected as runner up in our 2018 Blog Prize competition. Well done Maeve.The ‘Me Too’ campaign has been one of the most publicised global protests in the last year. Women were empowered, and the taboo subject of sexual...

Socialmedia, the host or the transitional phase for protests?

Socialmedia, the host or the transitional phase for protests?

by | Jun 15, 2017 | Protest and repression

Any large-scale protest is a powerful tool. In England, the history of popular protests reaches way back into the 13th century. Back then, protests were more violent than now, which could be a reason for their effectiveness. Throughout modern history, social movements have been taking different forms, and as people gained more rights, these movements became more peaceful. This blog post is going to focus on the transition of global movements, from hunger strikes to protest on Twitter and Facebook; how these adaptations changed the effectiveness of protesting; and how long social media are going to be a platform for them.

Protests and social media

Protests and social media

by | Jun 5, 2017 | Protest and repression

by Omar Allam Social media plays a large part in most of our daily lives through creating a platform for people to socialize and communicate and by keeping people up to date with the world around them. Its profound influence and wide reach is the reason why it played...

It needs to be more than 15 minutes of fame: Social movements and corporations.

It needs to be more than 15 minutes of fame: Social movements and corporations.

by | Jun 2, 2017 | Corporate power, Protest and repression

Without social movements corporations such as Nike would not have become leaders in sustainability in the corporate world. However, the campaign against Nike was launched in the 1990s – when social media and the internet was still a baby. The pressure that was mounted against Nike resulted in great change, but this pressure must be continued against other corporations in 2017. There is the danger that the internet and social media means there is some trending of a hashtag, but six months down the line everyone has forgotten. I will explore the victories of social movements and yet highlight how the biggest victories come from constant pressure, not just a 15-minute trend on Twitter. We need a commitment from activists in order to establish commitment from corporations.

The University of Manchester