The protests that spread spatially

SPEAKER: Although, many of us automatically associate a protest with typical demonstrations and marches, where a lot of people gather in a certain place, there are also other forms of protest. One example of such a protest was banging pots and pans and balconies in Brazil by people who express anger in their president. In such a case, it’s important what the people in the surrounding of potential participants are doing and what they can hear and see. It means that in the spread of the protest, physical space, and actions of people, who are in the neighbourhood, are supposed to be important. COVID-19 pandemic was a kind of an accelerator of this type of manifestation of opinions.

This is because traditional demonstrations in the form of public gatherings were either banned or at least very risky. We’ve all seen standing ovations made by people on their balconies in order to express gratitude for health care workers. Another example would be hanging some posters, criticising certain decisions of the authorities. In Poland, there was a protest against the government’s plans to limit women’s rights. Symbols of umbrellas and lighting bolts were exposed on balconies and in the windows. With this kind of manifestation, it isn’t so important that we imitate people who are our friends. We rather observe our surroundings, for example, our neighbours. That’s why those kind of protests are expected to have different types of dynamics than those you explored before.

In this course, here it may be important to look into the spatial enjoyment of potential protesters, how many neighbours they have or how far their eyesights can reach. We’ll investigate how such collective actions develop and to what progress we can expect. And for that we need a model.