Using Mass Protests to Publicize Issues and Galvanize Change

Global Protests Drive Success in Climate Action

Some of the most visible and impactful mass global protests have been related to climate change. Global rallies have occurred prior to and during each of the major climate talks. The most recent global protest happened before the 2015 Paris World Climate Change Conference known as the COP21 Summit. 45,000 people gathered in Sydney, 50,000 people in London and 20,000 people in Madrid. According to Avaaz, the organizers, more than 570,000 people from 175 countries had taken part in the global protests. The massive public support against climate change provided significant impetus to heads of government to make concrete efforts to limit global temperature rise and carbon use.

Occupy Protests Spread Across 82 Countries

In September 2011, a protest started at Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park. Activists protested against income inequality and wealth distribution between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population in the United States. It rapidly became a national and global movement called the Occupy movement. By October 2011, mass Occupy protests had transpired in over 951 cities across 82 countries. Protests took place in over 600 communities in the United States. Cities that joined the movement included Auckland, Sydney, Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo, São Paulo, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, and Hamburg.

In Frankfurt, 5,000 people protested at the European Central Bank and in Zurich. In the heart of Switzerland’s financial center, protesters carried banners reading “We won’t bail you out yet again” and “We are the 99 percent.” Even though the Occupy movement received criticism in its early days for failure to produce concrete results, nevertheless it sparked campaigns that have made significant advancements to human rights. These include the movement to raise the minimum wage, the anti-fracking movement that pushed cities, counties and states to enact bans on the controversial drilling process, and campaign-finance reform movement to remove big money from the electoral process in the United States. The movement produced a global collection of groups working toward similar goals under the Occupy name, such as Occupy Central.

Occupy Central Draws International Attention

Occupy Central began in Hong Kong on September 28, 2014. The Wall Street Journal reported that a group called the Hong Kong Overseas Alliance organized mass protests in different parts of the world to support the Occupy Central movement in Hong Kong. Occupy Central launched a civil disobedience campaign for electoral reforms for the Hong Kong Chief Executive election in 2017. They urged compliance with international standards in relation to universal suffrage as stated in the Hong Kong Basic Law Article 45. 200 people demonstrated in front of the Chinese consulate in New York City. Ten thousand people gathered in Taipei and 3,000 in London.

Smaller protests were held in Vancouver and Los Angeles. Rallies in support of the protests have occurred in over 64 cities worldwide. These occurred mostly in front of Hong Kong trade missions or Chinese consulates. Although the election process for the Hong Kong Chief Executive election in 2017 remains unchanged, the global protests were successful in drawing the world’s attention to the existing political climate in Hong Kong.

Worldwide Protests Challenge Malaysia’s Election Practices

In Malaysia, a rally which initially started as a protest against election malpractice and for electoral reform became a global protest rally. This global protest encompassed 74 cities in 2015. The first protest rally in 2007 was organized by Bersih (meaning “clean” in the Malay language), a coalition of civil society groups and non-governmental organizations in Kuala Lumpur. It drew an estimated 20,000 Malaysians. The second protest rally, Bersih 2.0 in 2011 drew 50,000 people. This did not include participants in protest rallies in 38 international locations such as Paris, Cairo, London, Stockholm, Seoul, New York City, and Zurich. Following the Bersih 2.0 global demonstrations, the Malaysian government organized a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) in the same year to address the electoral issues. Berish deemed the PSC report unsatisfactory. Therefore, a third protest rally, Bersih 3.0 took place in 11 cities in Malaysia and in 34 countries.

As electoral reforms and good governance as demanded by Bersih were still not addressed by the government, a fourth global protest, Bersih 4.0 was held in Malaysia and globally in 2015, drawing more than 500,000 people. Bersih global protests have been credited in changing the political landscape in Malaysia by denying the ruling national front a two third majority for the first time in 2008. These protests subsequently brought the world’s attention to Malaysia’s flawed political system and governance.

Mass protests on a global scale are a successful tactic to draw the international community’s attention. They increase awareness of global issues as well as domestic national issues. However, it has to be noted that such protests to galvanize change should be combined with other tactics which can channel the momentum to shift power, structures and policies.

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What we can learn from this Tactic:

The use of public gatherings and rallies as a protest tactic teaches us how powerful collective action can be. When people come together globally, they can spotlight major issues like climate change, income inequality, or electoral reforms. The internet and social media have made organizing these protests easier, allowing people from many countries to unite behind a cause. Global protests, like those for climate action or the Occupy movement, show that public pressure can push governments and institutions to take issues seriously. This tactic applies to many different issues across the world, but lasting change often requires additional strategies, like political reform or grassroots organizing, to channel that energy into concrete results. By combining mass protests with other efforts, movements can create real, lasting change.