If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution
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- Create Date：2023-11-01 15:21:31
- Update Date：2025-09-13
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- Author：Vincent Bevins
- ISBN：B0BDRNCJKW
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Summary
The story of the recent uprisings that sought to change the world - and what comes next From 2010 to 2020， more people participated in protests than at any other point in human history。 Yet we are not living in more just and democratic societies as a result。 IF WE BURN is a stirring work of history built around a single， vital How did so many mass protests lead to the opposite of what they asked for？ From the so-called Arab Spring to Gezi Park in Turkey， from Ukraine’s Euromaidan to student rebellions in Chile and Hong Kong， acclaimed journalist Vincent Bevins provides a blow-by-blow account of street movements and their consequences， recounted in gripping detail。 He draws on four years of research and hundreds of interviews conducted around the world， as well as his own strange experiences in Brazil， where a progressive-led protest explosion led to an extreme-right government that torched the Amazon。 Careful investigation reveals that conventional wisdom on revolutionary change is gravely misguided。 In this groundbreaking study of an extraordinary chain of events， protesters and major actors look back on successes and defeats， offering urgent lessons for the future。
Reviews
Tiffany Katz
，
A great sequel to The Jakarta Method， provided you’re looking for a more global telling of 21st century protests and you’re ready to be angry about what comes next。
Urbster
，
So this book does focus heavily on the Movimento Passe Livre in Brazil and the events following afterwards。 Secondarly it focuses on the Arabic Spring， Euromaidan， 2019 Hong Kong protests， and other protests。 So if your looking for a something mainly about western movements like Occupy Wall Street this is not the right book。That being said， I really like it， and the conclussion can be applied to most movements around the world。 Also the Movimento Passe Livre is a really good example were movemen So this book does focus heavily on the Movimento Passe Livre in Brazil and the events following afterwards。 Secondarly it focuses on the Arabic Spring， Euromaidan， 2019 Hong Kong protests， and other protests。 So if your looking for a something mainly about western movements like Occupy Wall Street this is not the right book。That being said， I really like it， and the conclussion can be applied to most movements around the world。 Also the Movimento Passe Livre is a really good example were movements can get hijacked and can even be used to achieve completely opposing goals to the initial movement。 。。。more
John Mihelic
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“Bevins has a new book coming out，” I said to myself， “I’m pre-ordering that no matter what it’s about。” That’s how good the Jakarta Method was。 With “If We Burn，” Bevins moves into more recent history as he explores the protests that swept the world in the 2010s， some of which he was a part of， and interviewing other people who were firsthand witnesses。 What struck me most was how he described so many of them taking their cues from recent past and contemporary movements。 Protests in the social “Bevins has a new book coming out，” I said to myself， “I’m pre-ordering that no matter what it’s about。” That’s how good the Jakarta Method was。 With “If We Burn，” Bevins moves into more recent history as he explores the protests that swept the world in the 2010s， some of which he was a part of， and interviewing other people who were firsthand witnesses。 What struck me most was how he described so many of them taking their cues from recent past and contemporary movements。 Protests in the social media age developed a whole vocabulary of action and reaction from both the protesters and authorities。Also， of note is how he covers the emergence of leaderless protests。 They can express real dissatisfaction， but they can also have no real （or shifting） demands or possible end states。 They can also be co-opted as Bevins shows how some of the protests in Brazil and Egypt evolved。Overall， as someone who wants to see the world develop towards a society of greater equity and citizen rights， the mood is somber。 The protests covered here were ineffective for the most part in creating any change that was durable。 Perhaps we need a new vocabulary or need to revisit old paradigms。 。。。more
Elliot VanHoy
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3。5- I was massively anticipating this book。 I’ve followed Bevins work for a while now and have always been really impressed。 I even went to his book tour in Philadelphia for this book！ So my level of hype for this book reflects my harsher rating。 Let’s start with the pros。 The scope of this book is insanely impressive。 Covering a decade and trying to give an account of mass protests in over 10 countries was massively informative （Tunisia， Egypt， Bahrain， Yemen， Turkey， Brasil， Ukraine， Hong Kon 3。5- I was massively anticipating this book。 I’ve followed Bevins work for a while now and have always been really impressed。 I even went to his book tour in Philadelphia for this book！ So my level of hype for this book reflects my harsher rating。 Let’s start with the pros。 The scope of this book is insanely impressive。 Covering a decade and trying to give an account of mass protests in over 10 countries was massively informative （Tunisia， Egypt， Bahrain， Yemen， Turkey， Brasil， Ukraine， Hong Kong， South Korea， and Chile）。 He also gives some small space for the United States， Spain， Greece， Libya， and Syria。 I learned more about these countries， their political histories， and their movements of contention is the 2010s from Bevins than from anything else I’ve ever read。 Bevins also convincingly and powerfully counters teleological readings of history， both （neo）liberal and Marxist， and shows that these protests are open to indeterminate multiplicities and outcomes （7 of the 10 mass protests not only failed to accomplish their goals but often found their country in a worse place than before the protest）。 Bevins also does a masterful job of showing the role that traditional and new social medias played in this decade and their protest movements， often showing the many ways new social medias have not lived up to their initial utopian promise。 So why 3。5？ There are a couple things about this book I really didn’t personally enjoy。 First， while the book is insanely expansive it’s deeply shaped by Bevins own experience as a journalist in Brazil and it feels like close to 50% of the book is an in-depth discussion of Brazil’s decade and the other sites receive much shorter attention by comparison。 While it’s interesting， it simply isn’t what I was hoping for in a book that seemed to have a more global scope and Brazil seems to color the lens of every other account。 It’s also deeply personal and almost memoir like in its accounting of his time in Brazil。 Again， not something I really enjoyed。 Second， the book is a massive critique of the “horizontalism” of these mass protests and their anarchist influences in favor of a more vertical and Leninist account of organization。 While im certainly open to that sort of critique I just found the theoretical discussion within the chapters themselves significantly lacking and mired in stale binaries （horizontal vs vertical， spontaneous vs organized， representatives vs consensus， etc。）。 Would I recommend this book？ Unquestionably so- if I didn’t come into it with such high expectations it would easily be a 4/4。5 star book。 I think there are some flaws for sure but they don’t ultimately get in the way of the brilliant moments in the book or the lessons that need to be taken from it for the future。 。。。more
Joseph Stieb
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This is a great idea for a book and very good journalism from around the world， but I'm not sure Bevins brings a convincing argument to the table。 VB looks mainly at Brazil， which had a major surge of protest in the early 2010s， and a number of other societies mostly in the "Global South:" Hong Kong， Ukraine， Tunisia， Egypt， and Indonesia。 He asks a fascinating question: Why were so few of the major protest movements of the 2010s decade unsucessful？ This is the flip side of a question that most This is a great idea for a book and very good journalism from around the world， but I'm not sure Bevins brings a convincing argument to the table。 VB looks mainly at Brazil， which had a major surge of protest in the early 2010s， and a number of other societies mostly in the "Global South:" Hong Kong， Ukraine， Tunisia， Egypt， and Indonesia。 He asks a fascinating question: Why were so few of the major protest movements of the 2010s decade unsucessful？ This is the flip side of a question that most people ask: why did the 2010s see the rise of authoritarian， nationalist， right-wing populism throughout so much of the world？ So if you feel like you have read a million books and articles on that question， this is a good book for you to check out。VB has been reporting from Brazil for a while， and he provides great analysis of the rise and fall of their protest movement， the Movimento Passe Libre， which started in teh early 2010s as a groundswell uprising against a hike in the cost of public transport。 VB shows how this group brought major Brazilians cities to a standstill before the World Cup and Olympics and won some key concessions。 But they failed to really institutionalize themselves or run as a coherent party。 They also undercut the popularity of the progressive Dilma Rousseff， who was really on the side of the people in Brazil。 Slowly， a right-wing reaction took shape。 The Lava Jato investigation led to politically motivated prosecutions of people like Lula for petty corruption that pretty much everyone was doing。 Dilma was impeached on specious terms。 The center-right gave their imprimatur to these developments， creating space for an even farther-right movement from the loathsome， racist， sexist Jair Bolsonaro， who became President。VB speaks with activists from Brazil and other countries to pick up some lessons from these events。 Two big ones stand out: First， horizontalism is a flawed protest/political model。 Many of the protest movements of this decade were highly devoted to flat， consensus-based， leaderless networked resistance that avoided the pitfalls of a more Leninist-style hierarchy。 This reflected their idealism and fear of repeating the mistakes of the old Soviet-era Left。 But this often left their movements unfocused and incapable of transitioning into long-term politics。 And it fed the second big lesson: politics abhors a vacuum。 If you topple or weaken a government （Mubarak， Yanukovich， Dilma）， you create a space that the most powerful， wealthy， and organized groups will fill， and these will often be the reactionaries you least wanted to come to power: the Sisi regime in Egypt， Bolsonaro in Brazil。VB ends with a plea for revolutionaries to strike a balance between hierarchy/organization on one hand and democratic legitimacy on the other。 I think this is sensible， but I think VB isn't going far enough in critiquing these ideologies and methods。 Ultimately， the political world he portrays is pretty black and white， and he is a bit of a romantic about revolutionaries （I'm not， not really）。 He portrays these various revolutions mainly as challenges to neoliberalism， which is his big bad wolf behind every negative thing in the world， more so than authoritarianism。 I think this is questionable given that the Arab Spring， for instance， seemed much more about anti-autocracy than anti-capitalism。 Many of these movements， like Maidan in Ukraine， want to join the social democratic and capitalist West rather than the crony authoritarian capitalism they currently live under。 In short， I think VB homogenized these revolts a bit too much by portraying neoliberalism as teh root cause and target of all of them， and I'm not sure that future revolutionary movements can succeed within this political paradigm。Furthermore， just like in his other book the Jakarta method， there's a lot of selective history in this book。 The United States， once again， is a big bad wolf; any opportunity to stress its perfidy or support for authoritarians is taken， but any opportunity to present complexity or cases where the US actually facilitated democratic transition is omitted。 There's also a big problem in his critique of neoliberalism: yes， neoliberalism has increased inequality and was a disaster in many countries， like Russia。 But， as a whole， in the world， things keep getting better on the metrics of health， income， standard of living， access to consumer goods， etc。 Is this because of capitalism or in spite of it？ I don't think VB has a good answer to this， and it may be relevant to explaining the failure of these protest movements。 As countries like Brazil gain a middle class， they gain large populations that don't want instability， nor do they want things to go backward。 There's lots of room for debate within the framework of liberalism and regulated capitalism， from the more free market approach of the US to the social democracies of Europe。 VB gives his readers no good reason why this should be abandoned in the name of something unknown， and I think this is how a lot of people in these developing societies see these protest movements。Still， I think this is a useful book for thinking about modern global politics。 I appreciate VB's experience and his integrity as a journalist。 He really wants the voices of these protestors to come through， and he succeeds in doing so。 But， to me， the vision that this is all supposed to support remains hazy and unconvincing。 I also would have liked more of a case study approach in the book， which skips around a lot and can be hard to follow if you don't know a lot about the individual protest movements （I knew little about Hong Kong， for example）。 。。。more
Breann Hunt
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to call this book an investigation of protest movements across the Global South is technically accurate， but I’d contend it’s too Brazil centric for that to be true。 rather， it’s a weaving a history of the unintelligible motivations of thousands of movements from a lens of Vincent Bevins own lived experience。 in that way， it takes fromthe “horizontalism” the book talks so much about， in citing from just about anyone and everyone involved while also being part memoir （you’ll see Vincent cite his to call this book an investigation of protest movements across the Global South is technically accurate， but I’d contend it’s too Brazil centric for that to be true。 rather， it’s a weaving a history of the unintelligible motivations of thousands of movements from a lens of Vincent Bevins own lived experience。 in that way， it takes fromthe “horizontalism” the book talks so much about， in citing from just about anyone and everyone involved while also being part memoir （you’ll see Vincent cite his own articles） constantly throughout and refer constantly to his own journalistic career and those of his friends。 that’s not bad per se but it’s a choice。 after all that， i’ve come to the conclusion that this is an important study and so the “stylistic means” i disagree with are justified by the ends。 。。。more
Adam McPhee
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A great walkthrough of the decade of contention that was the 2010s， with insights so clear they read almost as aphorisms。
David Sogge
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Reporting from frontlines of social protest， a seasoned and multi-lingual journalist builds his book around a dozen cases of civil protest， probing their failures to touch off real change for the better。 Most social movements backing the protests had emancipatory aims， but there were exceptions。 One was the Euromaidan uprising （2013-2014） in the Ukraine， where fascists and nativists had major roles。 In the wings， Moscow， Brussels and Washington helped set the scene and provided money and props。 Reporting from frontlines of social protest， a seasoned and multi-lingual journalist builds his book around a dozen cases of civil protest， probing their failures to touch off real change for the better。 Most social movements backing the protests had emancipatory aims， but there were exceptions。 One was the Euromaidan uprising （2013-2014） in the Ukraine， where fascists and nativists had major roles。 In the wings， Moscow， Brussels and Washington helped set the scene and provided money and props。 In this vivid and revealing chapter Bevins chronicles those events and probes the civil society camps driving them。 In explaining the failure of these protests， and their often counter-productive effects， Bevins calls particular attention to social and political impulses at large in recent decades: rebellious individualism， neo-anarchism， movement ‘horizontalism’ and the ‘tyranny of structurelessness’ -- an unduly neglected sociological idea dating from 1972。 In his penultimate chapter， he links these concepts to the assessments he heard from activists and other witnesses to these movements' defeats。 Would those informants then wholly endorse the ‘verticalist’ or ‘Leninist’ strategies which Bevins appears to favour？ Going by his findings from a dozen cases， viable alternatives to those strategies aren’t immediately at hand。 。。。more
Christopher Ferguson
，
A breathtaking project to build a through line of the decade of mass movements that was the 2010s。
Ciaran Kennedy
，
Another banger from King Vince
Grant
，
Bevins assess various uprisings with nuance as well as their subsequent fallouts， showing the roles played by the state， media， money and public。 The discussion around the limitations of horizontal movements was welcomed as it has been missing in other works。 If We Burn is a more personal story than the Jakarta Method but this doesn’t detract at all from the book。
Rajiv Chopra
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This book by Vincent Bevins is excellent。 He started the book with a personal story and gave us a summary of protests around the world。 His journalism and writing are both excellent。 Throughout the book， he maintains an even tone， which is challenging。 There is some excellent historical material。 For instance， anyone interested in Russia and Ukraine will find superb background material in this book。 They can then use this base information to deep further into the topic。 His summation at the end This book by Vincent Bevins is excellent。 He started the book with a personal story and gave us a summary of protests around the world。 His journalism and writing are both excellent。 Throughout the book， he maintains an even tone， which is challenging。 There is some excellent historical material。 For instance， anyone interested in Russia and Ukraine will find superb background material in this book。 They can then use this base information to deep further into the topic。 His summation at the end is masterly。 So， read the book until the end。 。。。more
Evan C
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An excellent examination of mass movements in the current century。 I highly recommend reading Jakarta Method first to get a base of understanding for leftist movements and repression in the latter half of the previous century。
Matt C
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After reading The Jakarta Method I was extremely excited for this release and it definitely did not disappoint！ Vincent Bevins has written an incredibly pointed and self-aware analysis that helps to contextualize and understand the huge number of mass movements/media spectacles throughout the 2010s， and how they are intertwined。Just like in The Jakarta Method， the author uses a combination of history， political economy， and personal accounts to paint a very clear， understanding， and unpretentiou After reading The Jakarta Method I was extremely excited for this release and it definitely did not disappoint！ Vincent Bevins has written an incredibly pointed and self-aware analysis that helps to contextualize and understand the huge number of mass movements/media spectacles throughout the 2010s， and how they are intertwined。Just like in The Jakarta Method， the author uses a combination of history， political economy， and personal accounts to paint a very clear， understanding， and unpretentious narrative in order to draw important lessons from recent history。The reality that so many of these movements have been mediated and distorted through both traditional and mass-media makes this book an extremely helpful and important read for anyone looking to unpack and understand the outcome of so many movements across the globe， as well as analyze more recent/future movements that will inevitably come。 。。。more
Steeldragon420
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A must read for anyone that was politically active or globally engaged throughout the 2010s。 A necessary summary as we enter the politics of the post covid era in what seems like a more confusing landscape for social change the ever before。 The last two or 3 chapters are the best part of the book。 His round up explanation for how this style of horizontal protest became so common and the relationship between something like the new left and Coachella was very enlightening。 The final two paragraphs A must read for anyone that was politically active or globally engaged throughout the 2010s。 A necessary summary as we enter the politics of the post covid era in what seems like a more confusing landscape for social change the ever before。 The last two or 3 chapters are the best part of the book。 His round up explanation for how this style of horizontal protest became so common and the relationship between something like the new left and Coachella was very enlightening。 The final two paragraphs left my stunned， incredibly thought provoking 。The work put into interviewing people and the breadth of countries covered was fantastic and really made this era in global politics feel whole and important。 It be so difficult for us to think about the 2010s and learn from them。My one thing I would love to ask Vincent about the book。 Is even though I know it doesn't really fit the era， Hugo Chavez seems to be a major missing figure。 There's so much talk about Leninism and the importance of daring to value representation。 I would love to see some sort of analysis of Chavez。 Espically because Bevins seems so well read on these things。 。。。more
Morgan
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One of my anticipated Fall 2023 books and it definitely lived up to the hype！ If We Burn covers mass protests that happened between 2010 and 2020。 It was fascinating to follow the origin and nature of those protests compared to what was reported in traditional media。 I definitely recommend this for anyone who enjoyed The Jakarta Method。
OJH
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In 2018， during the heady days of the Gilets Jaunes， I read Paul Mason's book Why It's Kicking Off Everywhere。 Mason's book on the protest wave of the decade， written as it was happening， was breathless and boosterish， seeing revolution around every corner。 At the time Mason's book felt useful to me。 France was in a political situation that seemed without recent precedent。 Of course 1968 failed， but people were invoking the memory of 68 in a way that didn't seem disingenuous。 This was serious co In 2018， during the heady days of the Gilets Jaunes， I read Paul Mason's book Why It's Kicking Off Everywhere。 Mason's book on the protest wave of the decade， written as it was happening， was breathless and boosterish， seeing revolution around every corner。 At the time Mason's book felt useful to me。 France was in a political situation that seemed without recent precedent。 Of course 1968 failed， but people were invoking the memory of 68 in a way that didn't seem disingenuous。 This was serious contestation， and although Emmanuel Macron remained in power and was subsequently re-elected， the Gilets Jaunes shook the frame in which French politics is contained， and energised other actors， like the trade unions， that took up the historical task of confronting Macron。 If one were to， as I did， find themselves ensconced in a moment of historical struggle， I would advise that they put down Mason's book which frankly， like the man himself， at this point feels utterly redundant。 I would instead encourage them to pick up If We Burn by Vincent Bevins。 Bevins' book is reminiscent of the Bungacast book The End of The End of History in its panoramic scope， shifting between scenes of a street riot， to the national parliament of a country， to analysis of great power competition， to the global nature of financialised capitalism。 Like the Bunga book it also tries to dig at the underlying dynamics， both material and ideological， of the protest decade。 And it does an excellent job。 Bevins often seems interested in narrative connection， so as well as performing the valuable service of focussing on the decade from the perspective of the global south， he also offers up under reported elements of the various eruptions he documents。 This means short chapters explaining the situation in Bahrain and Yemen， the inclusion of the Chilean Mapuche people in his narrative， an acknowledgement of the role of the far-right in the EuroMaidan， the democratic issues surrounding the western liberal NGO-industrial-complex and various other pieces of narrative correction that a less diligent journalist would have ignored。 As well as a breathtaking account of the global protest decade， Bevins provides a history of political contention， drawing on sociology， social movement theory and political economy to draw a throughline from the sixties to the present in a way that feels utterly compelling。 Perhaps the greatest achievement of the book is the ability it provides to compare these revolutionary situations， and the treatment given to the day after the explosion。 Bevins digs deep into why these movements were often transformed and traduced， with their energies used against the very people who unleashed them。 He provides a series of patterns that are often reproduced and offers， without any moralism or patronising， advice for anyone looking to spark political change and those looking to cover moments of mass protest in the media。 The revolution remains missing。 But I think his suggestion toward the end that the 2020s may surpass the 2010s as the decade with the most protests in human history seems plausible。 In such a context， If We Burn is a vital recent history of the present that anyone seeking to interpret the world， or even change it （！） should read。 。。。more
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if we burn the mass protest decade and the missing revolution if we burn the mass protest decade and the missing revolution vincent bevins