About the lecture
In the past decade, protests have materialised in diverse political contexts including New York, Delhi, Budapest, Santiago, Istanbul, Dhaka, Kiev, Baghdad and Hong Kong. People have taken to the streets in huge numbers in the hope that their voices will be heard and that authorities will listen. Protests are emerging to fill the void left by a dysfunctional yet ubiquitous system of organisation which societies across the planet rely on - representative democracy.
Representative democracy actively excludes some groups yet is built on institutions such as freedom of association and freedom of speech which ensures that people can express themselves, their identities and make demands. So, democracy makes protest movements possible. Rather than being a threat to democracy, protest movements actually augment democratic expression and allow people to be heard in a way that elections do not.
Drawing on research with marginalised groups including Roma communities in eastern Europe and queer people in India, Professor McGarry argues that one of the key roles of protest movements is the articulation of voice, for people to speak up and speak out, to realise their agency and to challenge the status quo. This is acutely important for groups who are routinely silenced and excluded.