It’s all kicking off – again
| Author | Peter Geoghegan |
| Published date | 01 December 2019 |
| Date | 01 December 2019 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/2041905819891363 |
DECEMBER 2019 • POLITICAL INSIGHT 3
It’s all
kicking
off – again
Sweeping change can start in the most
inconspicuous of places. Like the
provincial Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid.
It was here, in December 2010, that
a street vendor named Mohammed Bouazizi
self-immolated in a desperate protest against
government corruption.
Within weeks, the autocratic Tunisian regime
had fallen. Swiftly the Arab Spring spread like
wildre across the Middle East and North Africa.
The Arab Spring has long turned to winter
but there are signs that, around the world,
public anger is rising. As in Tunisia, the spark that
lights the dry tinder can seem relatively minor.
Ka Po Ng reports from Hong Kong where
the precursor to months of protest was a new
extradition law with mainland China. Amid
scenes of violence beamed around the world,
Hong Kong’s very future has been called into
question.
A new generation of protesters are emerging,
too. It’s not just on the streets of Beirut and
Santiago. Western Europe has seen a sharp
rise in public demonstrations, often calling for
radical action on a global problem – climate
change.
In this issue’s cover feature, Sarah Pickard
reports from environmental protests across
Britain and France. As Extinction Rebellion has
brought parts of London to a standstill and
school climate strikes have emptied classrooms
across the country, what Pickard calls the ‘Do-
It-Ourselves’ generation are changing what it
means to protest.
Britain, of course, is in a period of huge ux
in other ways, too. The Brexit vote in 2016 has
radically reshaped our politics. Settled political
assumptions – about right and left, north and
south, old and young – have been turned on
their heads.
One example of the shift in British politics is
the rising number of MPs defecting from their
parties. The Liberal Democrats in particular
have proted from a number of high-prole
defections in the months before the December
General Election. But how new is this really?
Paula Keaveney investigates the long – and not
always happy – history of political defections.
As our politics become more febrile,
academics can nd themselves thrust into
the spotlight. In a thoughtful reection on her
own recent experience, Ailsa Henderson looks
at the 2019 Future of England survey and the
heated reaction to its nding that many British
voters are comfortable with the risk of political
violence.
While the tone of British political debate has
ratcheted up dramatically over the past three
and a half years, not all that much has materially
changed. At the end of 2019, Britain remains a
member of the European Union. Why has Brexit
proved so hard to realise? Simon Usherwood
looks under the bonnet of the process and
concludes that the diculties have not all
been down to the intransigence of Brexit’s
opponents.
Much has been written about political
polarisation in Brexit Britain. Less, however, is
said about how wounds can be healed. Do
universities have a role to play in facilitating
debate and discussions beyond their walls?
Matthew Wood reports from an outreach
project with politics students and a local
community in Sheeld that has tried to do just
that.
The results of the 2019 General Election are
still unknown at the time of writing, but one
thing we can say with certainty is that online
advertising has been a major issue in the
campaign. In recent years, digital advertising
has become an increasingly prominent – and
controversial – part of our politics. Katharine
Dommett explores the rise of online political
messaging and asks whether online advertising
works and how it can be regulated.
In the digital age, it is tempting to see
members as an optional extra for political
parties. Indeed, while Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party
has hundreds of thousands of ‘supporters’ giving
money it has only a handful of members. Tim
Bale, Paul Webb and Monica Poletti examine
how parties feel about their members and nd
that most still see their rank-and-le as a crucial
asset.
Elsewhere, Ben Williams takes a look at David
Cameron’s agship ‘Big Society’ project a decade
on from its inception, and Emily St. Denny and
Peter Lynch examine whether the devolved
Scottish parliament has delivered a ‘new
Scottish politics’.
Ahead of the 2020 US presidential election,
James D. Boys looks back at 1000 days of
Donald Trump’s administration and nds
few signicant achievements but plenty
of headline-grabbing controversies. In the
regular In Focus slot, Benjamin D. Hennig maps
changing understandings of poverty in the
poorest parts of the world.
The waves of protest and crisis sweeping
across the political landscape are unlikely to
recede anytime soon. If anything, 2020 could be
an even more tumultuous political year.
Political
Insight
will be there, providing authoritative
analysis and cutting-edge research on the latest
developments.
If you would like to join the debates or
contribute to
Political Insight
get in touch or
visit www.psa.ac.uk/insight-plus.
Peter Geoghegan
Editor
Political Insight December 2019.indd 3 05/11/2019 10:15
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