Over the past 50 years, protesters’ voices have found power in unison. But activists and onlookers have increasingly been exposed to new sounds that aim to shatter rather than gather the crowd.
Members of militia groups demonstrate in Virginia in January 2020.
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Many militia members have championed the importance of individual rights, but have also backed a president who is now threatening the kind of crackdown they fear.
Our experts look at why people of colour are being hit harder by COVID-19, New Zealand’s success in eliminating the virus, and the latest on drug trials.
A Chilean soldier stands guard at a ransacked supermarket in Santiago, October 2019.
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Latin American history shows that sending out troops to quell unrest is a perilous move even in strong democracies. Usually, protesters die. Sometimes, the end result is authoritarianism rule.
Protesters throw statue of Edward Colston into Bristol harbour.
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Protests over police violence and white supremacy have erupted in almost 600 US cities. A historian of black social movements says what’s happened after George Floyd’s death is unprecedented.
A member of the far-right Boogaloo Bois group walks next to protestors in Charlotte, N.C., on May 29, 2020.
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With the plague decimating the ranks of laborers, surviving workers started pining for higher wages. When the monarchy responded by enacting taxes and restrictive labor laws, the peasants rebelled.
Understanding how unrest informed both early Christianity and the foundational stories of the United States can serve as a guide in this current period of turmoil.
The death of George Floyd when a police officer kneeled on his neck sparked days of protests in cities across the U.S.
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It’s nearly impossible to avoid close contact when protesting, and easy to forget the risks. An infectious disease expert answers key questions about how to avoid spreading the coronavirus to family.
Police work to keep demonstrators back during a protest in Lafayette Square Park on May 30, 2020 in Washington, D.C.
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Many law enforcement agencies fail to adequately investigate misconduct allegations and rarely sustain citizen complaints. Disciplinary sanctions are few and reserved for the most egregious cases.
Protesters outside of a burning Minneapolis police precinct.
AP Photo/John Minchillo
Opinions about demonstrations are formed in large part by what people read or see in the media. This gives journalists a lot of power when it comes to driving the narrative.
Protest at Parliament House in Canberra, May 8 1970.
National Museum of Australia
Labor’s Jim Cairns was a vital leader against the war, typified by the May 1970 demonstrations. No politician since has played such a strong campaigning role.
Greta Thunberg talks with Professor Johan Rockström about the coronavirus and the environment at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm, Sweden, April 21 2020.
EPA-EFE/Jessica Gow
Freedom of political communication is implied in the constitution, but protesters have still been fined for breaching social distancing rules by leaving their homes.
Protesters in Manchester, U.K., 1988.
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In the 1950s, ‘coming out’ meant quietly acknowledging one’s sexual orientation. Today, the term is used by a broad array of social movements.
Members of the RCMP look on as supporters of the Wet'suwet'en Nation block a road outside of RCMP headquarters in Surrey, B.C., on Jan. 16, 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Senior Associate Fellow on the Middle East at RUSI; Associate Professor in Politics & International Relations; Deputy Director of the Centre on US Politics, UCL