I was going to do a poll for this but I couldn't think of how to format or phrase it so, I haven't for now.

So, I don't want to be dismissive right away but the reason this came to mind is because, and those of you with a good knowledge of history will already be aware of the ins and outs of this -

I feel like consistently online and to an extent irl I see the idea pushed that peaceful protest is the only possible way to express displeasure, dislike or resistance to certain policies, movements or public figures, and I'm just not sure I agree with that at all. I feel like this is encouraged or even internalised by leftwing people - meanwhile, it feels like rightwingers are creating well-funded lobbying groups, gaining media airtime, and generally crowdfunding to get the tools together to actually take and hold onto power and influence.

I don't know if there are leftwing equivalents doing that too but I certainly don't see them promoted.

And I also feel like the history of peaceful protest is... not fictionalised per se but maybe put on an unrealistic pedestal compared to its actual historical success.

Idk, you guys are knowledgeable and educated so, any thoughts?

I think that like everything it has a time and a place.

It’s a legitimate show of force for a cause, a way to attract media attention and demonstrate clearly to the powers that be that this is no niche cause they can easily dismiss

However it’s not always the most effective option and it’s not always the right choice to make at a particular point in time.

If this is the only weapon in your arsenal then you will be often quite disappointed. It should be one of many in a well thought out and connected strategy

I think most protest doesn't work. Protesting against Israel in another country, for example? Like, what will it do? Israel will ignore it, so for me I wouldn't go, as there would be 0% chance of it working. Protesting againat government actions? Again, a peqceful peotest will do nothing. The poll tax eiots took down the government because they were RIOTS and social unrest. I didn't even go to thr brexshit protests, aa again, I knew the Tories would ignore them... and they did.

It's good for raising awareness but in terms of actually getting things changed, it's pretty ineffective.

As JFK once said -

'Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable'

The Government should heed his words.

As much as I wish it weren't the case violent action is an effective method to affect change and although studies show that peaceful protest and disruption IS more effective, it isn't always enough.

To paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr, when nobody is listening rioting is the last resort of the unheard.

Sometimes you have to break stuff to be noticed

Just protests are almost always a valid political tool to use, and one of the most misrepresented.

Historically, most major changes to society involved some form of protest, many of them violent - and you can almost always find moderates talking them down but then later accepting the new political reality that they brought about.

You see this moderate resistance with phrases like 'I agree with the cause, but believe it's the wrong time/their methods are wrong/the protesters need to find alternative routes to get their voice heard'. What those alternative routes are is rarely articulated. Sadly, as we've seen more often recently, instead you get ways to crush them legally.

Generally the goal of protests, whatever their methods, is to bring attention to the cause. If they do not do that, then it's a not a successful protest, because people can hold 'stop war' signs all they like, it doesn't stop the war and if people are marching blithely by those in their daily routine there's not the political pressure needed to make the demands a reality. However, if those signs grow in numbers to the point it is the number one political story, then it can organically grow and put on that pressure, hence the time when there is the MOST conversation about the protest is the time to join and make sure its demands come true (e.g. the BLM protests which had some questionable elements but did cause a wave of better majority-minority relations for a time, though I would stop at saying they were completely successful).

Biggest thing a protest needs is strong demands and clear plan of action, enabled by organisers. Which when it works can lead to incredible numbers of people lining the streets.

I have far more of a reformist attitude to leftist change, leftists who imagine revolution will one day bring about a new society are like Christians waiting for the rapture, but protests are often a necessary first step in getting that reform on the agenda. Ideally not violent but that's sadly not always the case.

I think I'd struggle to pinpoint a turning point in culture that was brought upon by just peaceful protests, the suffragettes didn't get the right to vote by not jumping in front of horses. A lot of (mainly conservative) historical accounts of the likes of Indian independence and the Civil Rights Movement like to pretend because Gandhi and MLK were non-violent in principle, that those movements were all done by good old quiet persistence and those woke mobs of today should learn a few things, when really if you read further, that was far from the truth and there was a hell of a lot of more disruption and violence that the oppressed had to use to get their voice heard, oh for what social media would've been like then...

We live in a society where the controllers of the Media dictate the narrative, whether it's supported by political figures or not, and going against that (say for Palestine or Trans rights to name a few recent examples) is always an uphill battle that is never going to be solved by just placards. You have to disrupt and make a statement, I'd never advocate violence, but I can't help bu echo Bob Vylan in that it's sometimes the only language some can understand.

I struggle to have an unbiased perspective against it because I am a quite all or nothing thinker and I constantly see so much talk about peaceful resistance in the face of even lethal force used and I don't understamd where these people's self/social preservation instinct is.

I just feel like people have forgotten that peaceful protest didn't used to be the point in and of itself; the reason it worked was because there was always an implied threat/show of force behind it.

To be honest I see so much lack of resistance in all aspects of life nowadays it kind of messes with me. Especially given that this is a time where most people are playing RPGs and games with at least some small element of strategy. Meanwhile in real life people just nod and roll over what seems like the second it looks like things might get a little hairy or difficult or challenging.

I think protesting can definitely be effective when the cause has clear demands and reflects an authentic and widely held public opinion. As already mentioned in this thread you've got examples from the UK like the Poll tax riots in March 1990 or from the USA like the Montgomery Bus Boycott. A protest doesn't always necessarily need to become succesful in the short term, however it can shift the Overton window and build a different consensus that leads to meaningful change later on.

There are other forms, such as going on strike, which can be about simply about registering your dissatisfaction, and these can be quite helpful for building support and even quite cathartic for those that take part even just seeing other ppl who feel the same as you and feeling supported and realising that you are not alone. I've been on two strikes, one about the gender pay gap and another about cost of living crisis in 2023 and on both occasions it was really healing for me and everyone who took part.

I think the way that a protest is carried out is also important.

For example, I must admit I was quite annoyed by the Extinction Rebellion tube train protest in October 2019; I supported the cause of raising the issue of the climate emergency, however the optics of wealthy or middle class protesters jumping on tube trains and disrupting the journeys of many working class people trying to get home after a long night shift was not good. It was if anything counter-productive IMO. Now, disrupting a private airfield that caters to the private jets of the super rich IS an effective protest because it makes a strong point about inequality as well as raising the climate issue in a way that brings the wider public on side.

I agree with Michael that a lot of the protests on Palestine and a Brexit were largely ineffecitve despite what appeared to be clear demands, I think in the case of Brexit it was because there was quite a large polarisation in the wider public, extremists on both sides would not compromise and a lot of ppl were fed up with the endless debate and just wanted it to be over. It was also because the Remain grouping couldn't agree on the best way forward, I would have preferred a softer Brexit option (e.g. EFTA) but when these options were put in front of Parliament in 2019 the centrists foiled any attempt at a compromise or different consensus. Wrt Palestine, as Michael says the government of Israel will not take notice of any protest except from within their own country - the best that can be hoped for is what we now have, which is a complete recognition of a Palestinian state and political pressure from the UK government to reach a peace agreement and a two-state solution.

As for why there is apathy and a lack of resistance, I think there is an increasing feeling of hopelessness amplified by the permacrisis and (in the UK at least) a stagnation in living standards and the economy for the majority - that no matter what we do things will not change. We did see large protests and riots breakout in the summer of 2024 following the Southport stabbings, including attacks on the Southport Mosque which then grew into a wider movement protesting against asylum seekers. I worry that social media is rapidly polarising society leading to more animosity between us and that the rich and powerful are weaponising that anger and hatred to build more and more wealth and power for themselves. Depressingly, there are quite serious suggestions now that there is a high likelihood of global societal collapse in the 2050s, so maybe what's the point in protesting if collapse is inevitable?