Op-Ed: How authoritarianism leads to a rise in social justice movements

And is that going to be the case in 2025 as well?

(Note: The opinions voiced in this piece are of the author and the author only. Fractures is a collective of different writers and contributors with varying degrees of opinions. Kevin Heller writes on the rise of the far-right and has a long history of being involved in the international anarchist, anti-fascist and animal-rights movement.)

When kings and dictators assert their powers and start crossing lines that are unacceptable to even a relatively small portion of the public, protest movements are born. From the days of the French Revolution to the large uprisings in the 19th century and from the anti-war movements of the 1970’s and 1980’s, to the anti-globalisation movements of the 1990’s and 2000’s and the Black Lives Matter movements of the 2010’s these protest movements have always relied on ordinary people stepping up and taking a stance.

But in the times between authoritarian regimes, when things are relatively stable, these movements seem to suffer and decline. The general public no longer sees their value and governments are good at embedding the self-appointed leaders of social justice movements into the establishment, and thereby removing their “teeth and claws”, so they no longer pose a threat to the establishment. Labor unions, leftist political parties and local community leaders lose their actual influence and are muzzled by grants, nice government paid jobs and the threat of all of that being taken away if they get too mouthy again. Conform or feel the wrath.

Other movements that refuse to compromise are simply annihilated by the State and its law enforcement agencies. Activists are targeted for arrest and their former friends inside the larger movement, now incorporated by the State, pretend they don’t exist or ever really knew them. People are left out in the cold and are disillusioned with their former comrades and parties that once spoke to their feelings but have now turned their backs on them. Marginalized groups like people of colour and the LGBTQ-community are left fending for themselves.

But then a new era of authoritarianism breaks out and suddenly there is a need again for a protests movement. When “ordinary” middle class society feels threatened it is acceptable again to go out on the streets and shout at the “Man”. And that tiny number of activists who had never stopped being a thorn in the side of the State are called on for advice and help. And they will help out even though inside they may scream “where were you when I needed you”, their ideals and beliefs tell them to step up and do what is needed.

So, now with Trump 2.0 in power in the US and with radical right-wing governments popping up all over Europe, and the rest of the world, it seems that there will be another resurgence of grassroots protest movements. And, of course, the “professional” activists will scream that they have never left and have never stopped trying to dismantle the oppressive System. And that is true, to a certain extent. Antifascist movements in Germany never stopped protesting. LGBTQ-community organizers and advocates never stopped fighting for their basic human rights. Feminist movements have always had reasons to stay active as long as femicide was not addressed and abortion rights were in jeopardy.

But these movements simply lose momentum in the stages between regimes. The movements gain momentum when the authoritarians are elected and start rolling out their oppressive programs. Does that mean that most people are hypocrites and have no idea what “solidarity” means? Perhaps. But it also means that sometimes things have to get worse before we want to make things better. You can then either bring out the “I told you so” or you can go help and fix it.

Because, let’s be honest, governments have not been the nicest to marginalized people ever, with things getting even worse in the past three decades.

Conservative and neo-liberal governments, supported by social-democratic parties, have slowly but surely increased the powers of the State through an increase in police surveillance, militarization of police forces, harsher laws that turn activism into terrorism, by making it harder and harder for asylum seekers and refugees to cross into safe lands, etc.

As an example, especially anarchists and other more radical lefties have always warned about the “forever war” on terrorism and the increase of Islamophobia in the West. After 9/11 governments around the globe made their laws stricter when it comes to freedom of movement and of speech and have given more and more power to law enforcement agencies to act pre-emptively against larger groups of people. American Presidents like Bush and Obama were all too happy to use illegal killings of people who were deemed a threat to the West. No trial, no public evidence needed, just send in a drone and boom! “Dronebama” was a nickname well earned. And in Europe governments in France and Germany, like others, gave their counter-terrorist and intelligence teams all the toys and freedom to do whatever they thought was needed to keep the country “safe”.

During the haydays of the anti-globalist movement in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s police around the world were given free reign by their conservative governments to crack down hard on any form of protest. The brutal police violence seen in Genua, Prague, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Götheborg, Amsterdam, Paris and other cities that hosted G8 or WTO meetings was off the charts. Indiscriminate beatings, inexcusable use of large amounts of CS gas and even the killing of protestors had become the new normal.

The way to the authoritarianism of today was slow, violent, and inevitable. Conservative governments, supported by mainstream media outlets calling any form of protest a “riot”, paved the way for the extreme right parties to come in and say: “We can do even better than that.” The only thing they had to do was take over the slogan from the conservatives and neo-liberals that “everything from the Left is bad and dangerous”. And now the infrastructure is there for any authoritarian government to take the wheel.

So does a new protest movement even stand a chance? Intelligence agencies will have access to all forms of private data, riot police have all the tools and permission to go as hard as they want and the justice systems has all sorts of new shiny “anti-terror”-laws to send people to prison for a long time. The governments of the 1990’s, the 2000’s and 2010’s have simply handed the extreme right a perfect running oppressive system on a platter.

New protest movements now have to have a sturdier spine to keep doing what previous protest movements did. The stakes are so much higher now. Being arrested in the 1980’s for being part of a protest does not compare to being arrested today for protesting. Not only are the arrests more violent, the consequences for your job and livelihood are bigger. Try getting a job where they do not ask for a police background check. Being arrested for public disturbance was a laughing matter in the 1970’s and 1980’s, but today it is called “being part of a violent terrorist movement” and then see how far you get with your application.

That means that people have to be more willing to sacrifice their privileges. You might lose your job, right-wing troll media might put your face up online and reveal all your personal details to the world, you will receive all the online threats and you can be sure that law enforcement agencies are reading along with everything you are doing in cyberspace.

But that all might be a good thing. It means that people have to stand firm for their beliefs. It is not just a Saturday-afternoon hobby kind of thing. Things are more serious now and that takes dedication. Maybe now more groups will understand the fear and despair that marginalized groups have felt for decades. Yes, first they came for the Jews and I did not speak out, then they came for the….you know the rest and it rings true still today.

Speaking out online, going out to protest, maybe block immigration officers from deporting people, occupy government buildings, etc, it all takes dedication and a lot of effort. But it is worth it. Joining up with a group that has been fighting for transgender rights, for example, will give hope to those that have felt unheard for years. Standing in front of drooling violent-hungry robocops with batons held high and taking a beating to protect an illegalized person from getting deported will hurt, but you can be sure that you will get hurt a little less than the person they were aiming for. And simply fighting an unjust system will give hope to others, especially to those that have been oppressed for so long, but also to children who will judge us in the future when they write their history books.

This old anarchist who has breathed in a lot teargas, has had a lot of black, yellow, red and blue imprints all over his body from police batons, has had to spend time in jailcells without a proper meal or a drink and who has been put on deathlists by neonazis can tell you…it is all worth it. Did the authoritarians win despite my actions? Only partly. They may be in power, but I have seen police lines crumble under the weight of thousands of people pushing at their very thin blue line. I have seen world leaders have to take back executive orders because their bureaucrats could not handle the constant pressure of protests at their doors. I have seen illegalized people light up when they saw it was not just them having to deal with police brutality. And I have felt the comraderie between all sorts of people from different walks of life after a protest having a drink in a squatbar or in a park somewhere. Laughter, joy and hope. Hope gives wings to ordinary people. Hope can topple dictators. Go out and find some hope. And let’s show these dictators that their days are numbered.