How the long history of leaderless movements helps us understand the ‘yellow vests’ protests
The “gilets jaunes,” or yellow vests, protests in France caught everyone by surprise. Triggered by a proposed increase in the tax on fuel, the protests spread across the country with unprecedented speed and intensity, turning them into an existential threat to President Emmanuel Macron’s political project.
The press has emphasized social media’s role in enabling the protests to grow and spread without any central organization. Social media is getting the credit for allowing far-flung individuals to coordinate, drawing participants from many backgrounds and remote corners of the country, making preemptive police action difficult. Social media also has gotten the credit for other incidents of mass unrest in recent history, including the Arab Spring and the 2011 London riots.… Seguir leyendo »