Europe is known for its longstanding history of protesting and striking; and with social media being so easily accessible, people all over the world can see today’s strongest movements in the continent.
My experience while studying abroad allowed me to see these protests in person which typically occurred while walking around various European cities. I walked through a demonstration in Paris, witnessed another in Rome advocating for women’s rights, and this past week there were anti-immigrant protests in Dublin. However, the Dublin protests have evolved into riots and are now being stopped.
Many of my professors abroad have told me that demonstrations such as the ones mentioned before are very common. In Europe, it can seem as if there are consistent potential protests and strikes anywhere and for any reason. Before traveling abroad, I had never seen that many protests firsthand and in such a short amount of time.
Earlier this year, the French people struck when the retirement age increased from 62 to 64 for those born after 1968. The protests were discussed across various media platforms, allowing people in the United States to learn about them and share their opinions.
The ability to share opinions on media platforms has allowed the growth of transnational social movements. As described by University of Pittsburgh sociology professor, Jackie Smith in the scholarly article “Transnational Social Movements,” these are social movements that reach beyond nations and their borders. These movements connect people around the world who also align with their goals.
In the U.S., protesting has historically been handled harshly. Police are usually present at many social movements and demonstrations, even if these protests are peaceful. As a result, protesting happens less frequently. In recent times, it appears that American citizens have followed the lead of Europeans as many now commonly use their right to protest more frequently.
On social media, varying pieces of media displayed people in shock over the French’s ability to protest about something as “minute” as the retirement age being slightly altered, meanwhile, worker-labor unions are being taken down in the United States.
Across the United States today, people (especially Generation Z) are involved in activism efforts surrounding many issues; there has even been a recent spike in boycotts and protests throughout most of America.
Globalization and social media have pushed people from around the world to see the power citizens have when they exercise their right to protest, leading to the recent surge seen in the United States.
Coming from The New Yorker, journalist Robin Wright’s article, “The Story of 2019: Protests in Every Corner of the Globe” speaks about globalization and social media’s influence along with how it began increasing in 2019. Wright said that 2019 would be remembered as the year of a “…tsunami of protests that swept across six continents and engulfed both liberal democracies and ruthless autocracies.” In countries like Bolivia, the citizens protested effectively and were able to displace corrupt leaders. Wright had predicted that social movements would only continue to grow in 2020 and beyond. Wright’s predictions rang true, with the most relevant example being the Black Lives Matter protests’ international traction that influenced other nations to follow suit.
Activism efforts shared on TikTok have also been prevalent in recent years, especially during these war-torn times. On the app, people have created filters that raise money for those in Gaza through the “TikTok Creator Fund” — where eligible TikTok users receive monetization and compensation for any in-app creations they’ve made and are used by those within and outside the Fund.
With social media’s reach and power, people can effectively inspire others to protest regardless of the country they reside. The current increase in activism-based social media accounts helps organize and mobilize these global movements. The new era of people across the globe exercising their right to protest may lead to major shifts in our government and the way we as U.S. citizens live our lives.