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This is good as far as it goes, but it doesn't answer the question: what is the mechanism that turns people power into political power?
by sp332 4y ago
This is good as far as it goes, but it doesn't answer the question: what is the mechanism that turns people power into political power?
- BigOlThangs 4y agoParalyzing a city or multiple cities. See the protests that happened in Ecuador recently for an example. The government agreed to the protestors demands after several weeks of protests (including preventing supplies from entering Cuenca).
- themadturk 4y agoYes, she doesn't really answer the question about why the multiple protests of the civil rights era or the environmental movement resulted in successes. I agree that they are places to start conversation, though, and have argued that many times with a friend who sees no point in them.
- jfengel 4y agoIt's not clear that they did. Many other things were going on at the same time, and it's entirely possible that they would have been achieved without protests on TV. It's also possible that you couldn't have had that much work being done behind the scenes without somebody getting enthused enough to organize a protest. In other words, the protest didn't cause anything, but was a result of the same cause that it was a movement that people cared about. The difference is that people hold protests literally every day in DC, and practically all of them are forgotten the next day, even if they manage to attract a news cycle. The protests that are remembered are the ones that are part of an overwhelming movement going on elsewhere -- real grass-roots organizing, lawmakers hearing from constituents, lobbying, etc.