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The sixth UGlobe Café On the Barricades was dedicated to the worldwide protest wave of the past year: from Lebanon to Chile and from Iraq to Spain, civilians entered the barricades. What is the motivation of the protesters? How do they deal with the measures taken by the authorities? And to what extent can the situations in different countries be compared? In this edition of the UGlobe Café, three experts went in search of the answers.

The evening was introduced by Antoine Buyse, professor of human rights in a multidisciplinary perspective and connected to, among others, the Centre for Global Challenges. Buyse briefly sketched a clear picture of the current protest wave and its (possible) causes. For example, the fact that there are currently many young people who are willing to take action (the median age worldwide is 30), the growing inequality, the faltering democracy in many countries, and technology and social media. According to Buyse, all these factors play a role, but it is often a concrete trigger that causes people to take to the streets. Especially in situations where things seemed to be going a little better, and yet another disappointment follows. Like the protests in Chile that flared up after the price of the subway tickets was raised. Buyse also pointed out the many creative and mediagenic ways of the current protest: from eating ice cream in Belarus as a silent protest against the government and the umbrellas in Hong Kong, to organising a 'running contest against the regime' in Thailand where protests are forbidden.

Network democracy

Former Member of Parliament and founder of the Bright Hong Kong organisation , currently working as a consultant at the National Democratic Institute, was interviewed by moderator Erwin Maas about the protests in Hong Kong. Ferrier called those protests very special, because everyone normally abides by the rules in this orderly city state. The protest against China's growing influence on Hong Kong started in 2014 with the 'yellow umbrellas', and last year two out of nine million inhabitants took to the streets. A sign, said Ferrier, that the country's political leaders are not listening to the people and what is going on in society. Ferrier sees in these protests the signs of the rise of a network democracy, in which people increasingly organise themselves from the bottom up and in this way try to influence policy in a country.

Selective repression

, ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Lecturer at Leiden ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ with expertise on Russia and Eurasia, noted that protests against Putin's authoritarian regime were on the increase in Russia. For years, opposition leader Aleksey Navalny was the only face of the demonstrations, but more and more often other public figures, such as the politician Lyubov Sobol and rapper Oxxxymiron, also speak out against Russian government policy. The protests have not yielded much, according to Bader, because they have been harshly repressed by the government and selective repression is used, with certain people being picked out and severely punished. The Russians do want change, but they don't do much because of it. Another difference with other countries where there are many protests is the fact that young people can easily leave Russia and build a life elsewhere. Perhaps the elections in 2024 could be a reason for change.

The discussion included the role that technology and social media play in (organising) protests. The fast communication possibilities ensure that people can organise themselves at lightning speed and give them the opportunity to take matters into their own hands, even across borders. Human rights violations can also be recorded and disseminated immediately. The downside is that social media can also be abused by the authorities. In Russia, according to Max Bader, you can end up in prison for sending a single tweet.

About the UGlobe Café

The UGlobe Café is a unique collaboration between students from Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ, the Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Centre for Global Challenges and TivoliVredenburg's knowledge and debate programme. A joint editorial team identifies topics that bring knowledge outside the walls of the university in an accessible way.