The End of Protest: A New Playbook for Revolution - Softcover

White, Micah

Softcover

ISBN 10: 034581004X ISBN 13: 9780345810045

Publisher: Knopf Canada, 2016

Synopsis

"A love letter to activists of the future." —Michael Hardt

Are you feeling disillusioned by modern protest yet still determined to change the world? In The End of Protest, Micah White—visionary co-creator of Occupy Wall Street—offers a groundbreaking blueprint for the future of activism.

From the Arab Spring to the Women's March and Extinction Rebellion, movements worldwide have mobilized millions but struggled to create lasting transformation. Meanwhile, the planet faces escalating crises—climate catastrophe, rampant inequality, democracy's decline into oligarchy and authoritarianism—that demand real change now. According to White, the time has come for a radical shift: innovation or irrelevance.

Drawing on his firsthand experience with Occupy, which spread contagiously across eighty-two countries, White fuses historical insight with fresh ideas. He presents a unified theory of revolution and eight principles of tactical innovation designed to spark the next generation of social movements. Rejecting quick fixes and consumerist activism, he argues for a long-term perspective—measured in centuries, not days.

But don't mistake this for a doom-and-gloom forecast. White heralds a new era of possibility. The End of Protest imagines the rise of a global political party capable of winning elections worldwide, tackling systemic injustice, and reshaping how we live. Along the way, White outlines three bold, revolutionary scenarios, illustrating how mass movements can transcend protest-as-usual to govern and create meaningful change.

The End of Protest is both a warning and a call to action: while old approaches have stalled, untapped potential awaits those ready to build the world anew. Rigorous yet hopeful, provocative yet practical, this is your indispensable guide for igniting powerful, lasting revolutions—an "underground classic" that belongs on the shelf of every activist, organizer, and citizen who refuses to settle for the status quo.

About this title

About the Author

MICAH WHITE is the lifelong activist who co-created Occupy Wall Street, a global social movement that spread to 82 countries, while an editor of Adbusters magazine. His essays and interviews on the future of protest have been published globally. Widely recognized as a pioneering theorist and practitioner of activism, Micah White has been profiled by The New Yorker, and Esquire has named him one of the most influential young thinkers alive today. His website is micahmwhite.com

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

You are needed

You may long for the protest to end all protests, a final revolution that eradicates injustice and transforms society. You dream of a better world in which protest is no longer necessary. You wish to make protest effective so that the ideals you hold become manifest. For you the end of protest is a consummation of activism, the completion of your work and objective of your struggle. You understand that the end of protest is in itself revolution.
 
This book will offer you tools for hastening social transformation. Recognizing that protest is one tool among many for creating social change, grab what works and discard the rest.
 
And if you are threatened by revolution, fearing or disdaining movements like Occupy, and you’ve come to this book from a desire to end protest—to foreclose dissent—know that this book is for you, too. Uprisings always need people who convert to the cause from positions of power: police who switch sides, insiders who become whistleblowers, and politicians who heed the people’s demands. You may oppose us today but you will join us tomorrow. Our movement is even stronger when it includes the converted, who understand the errors of the old world because they embodied them.
 
You may be skeptical of those who take to the streets, considering them reckless. They seem to have nothing to lose, and you have worked so hard to achieve your position, wealth and prestige. You may not sympathize with their anger. You may believe that good society ought to have few disruptions. True, many aspects of upheaval are unpleasant. Revolutions are sometimes violent and always have unintended consequences. “In a society such as ours,” writes Herbert Marcuse, a leading twentieth-century social theorist and philosopher, “in which pacification has been achieved up to a certain point, it appears crazy at first to want revolution. For we have whatever we want.” He continues with a prescription: “[T]he aim here is to transform the will itself, so that people no longer want what they now want.”3 You desire the end of protest, but the fulfilment of your desire would be disastrous for you.
 
The lack of protest is perilous for society. Protest is a symptom of the need for social change, and the people in the streets are harbingers of greater democracy. The absence of effective protest is a warning sign of impending civil strife. Whether you support or suppress protesters, history shows that dissent is necessary for social growth and collective renewal. Revolution grants us the social freedom essential for humans to break old habits and reach their true collective potential.

Edition details

• Publisher: Knopf Canada
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 034581004X
• ISBN 13: 9780345810045
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336