Protest
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/* Public demonstration or political rally */ Link fixes
{{dablink|[[Pro-Test]] is also the name of an [[Oxford]] based pro-animal testing group}}
[[Image:A16 IMF march.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Demonstrators march in the street while protesting the policies of the [[World Bank]] and [[International Monetary Fund]] on 16 [[April 2005]].]]
'''Protest''' expresses relatively overt reaction to events or situations: sometimes in favor, though more often opposed. Protesters may organize a protest as a way of publicly and forcefully making their opinions heard in an attempt to influence public opinion or government policy, or may undertake [[direct action]] to attempt to directly enact desired changes themselves.<ref>St. John Barned-Smith, "How We Rage: This Is Not Your Parents' Protest," ''Current'' (Winter 2007): 17-25.</ref>
Self-expression can, in theory, in practice or in appearance, be restricted by [[government]]al policy, economic circumstances, religious orthodoxy, social structures, or [[mass media|media]] [[monopoly]]. When such restrictions occur, opposition may spill over into other areas such as [[culture]], the streets or [[emigration]].
A protest can itself sometimes be the subject of a counter-protest. In such a case, counter-protesters demonstrate their support for the person, policy, action, etc. that is the subject of the original protest.
== Historical notions ==
[[Image:DCprotest.jpg|right|thumb|250px|[[September 15, 2007 anti-war protest]] in [[Washington DC]]]]
Unaddressed protest may grow and widen into [[dissent]], [[activism]], [[riot]]s, insurgency, [[revolt]]s, and political and/or social [[revolution]], as in:
* [[Northern Europe]] in the early [[16th century]] ([[Protestant Reformation]])
* [[North America]] in the [[1770s]] ([[American Revolution]])
* [[France]] in 1789 ([[French Revolution]])
* The [[Haymarket riot]], 1886, a violent labor protest led by the [[Anarchism in the United States|Anarchist Movement]]
* [[Martin Luther King]]'s 1963 [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]], a key moment in the [[American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)|Civil Rights Movement]]
* SOS ([[Save Our Sons]]) where moderate middle class women who would hold silent protest vigils-founded in 1965
* The [[Stonewall riots]] in 1969 protesting the treatment of homosexuals in [[New York City]]
* The [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]]
* The many [[AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power|ACT-UP]] AIDS protests of the late 1980s and early 1990s
* The [[Seattle]] [[WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity]] against the [[World Trade Organization]]
* [[Anti-globalization Protests in Prague]] in 2000
* [[Serbia]] in 2000
* [[February 15, 2003 anti-war protest|Feb. 15, 2003 Iraq War Protest]] - ''6-10 million in 60 countries
''
== Forms of protest ==
Commonly recognized forms of protest include:
[[Image:Hotel Washington during Million Worker March.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Protesters outside the Hotel Washington during the [[Million Worker March]].]]
=== Public demonstration or political rally ===
Some forms of [[direct action]] listed in this article are also [[Demonstration (people)|public demonstrations]] or rallies.
* [[Demonstration (people)|Protest march]], a historically and geographically common form of [[nonviolent]] action by groups of people.
* [[Picketing]], a form of protest in which people congregate outside a place of work or location where an event is taking place. Often, this is done in an attempt to dissuade others from going in ("crossing the picket line"), but it can also be done to draw public attention to a cause.
* [[Street protester]]s, characteristically, work alone, gravitating towards areas of high foot traffic, and employing handmade [[wiktionary:placard|placards]] such as [[sandwich board]]s or picket sign's in order to maximize exposure and interaction with the public.
* [[Lock-downs]] are a way to stop movement of an object, like a structure or tree and to thwart movement of actual protestors from the location. Users employ various chains, locks and even the [[Sleeping dragon|sleeping dragon]] for impairment of those trying to remove them with a matrix of composited materials.
* [[Die-in]]s are a form of [[protest]] where participants simulate being dead (with varying degrees of realism). In the simplest form of a die-in, protesters simply lie down on the ground and pretend to be dead, sometimes covering themselves with signs or banners. Much of the effectiveness depends on the posture of the protesters, for when not properly executed, the protest might look more like a "sleep-in". For added realism, simulated wounds are sometimes painted on the bodies, or (usually "bloody") bandages are used.
* [[Protest song]] is a song which [[protest]]s perceived problems in society. Every major movement in Western history has been accompanied by its own collection of protest songs, from slave [[emancipation]] to women's [[suffrage]], the [[labor movement]], [[civil rights]], the anti-war movement, the [[feminist]] movement, the environmental movement. Over time, the songs have come to protest more abstract, moral issues, such as [[injustice]], [[racial discrimination]], the morality of [[war]] in general (as opposed to purely protesting individual wars), [[globalization]], [[inflation]], [[social inequalities]], and [[incarceration]].
* [[Radical cheerleading]] The idea is to ironically reappropriate the aesthetics of cheerleading, for example by changing the [[chant]]s to promote [[feminism]] and [[left-wing politics|left-wing]] causes. Many radical cheerleaders (some of whom are male, [[transgender]] or non-gender identified) are in appearance far from the stereotypical image of a cheerleader.
=== Written demonstration ===
Written evidence of political or economic power, or democratic justification may also be a way of protesting.
* [[Petition]]s
* [[Letter]]s (to show political power by the volume of letters): For example, some letter writing campaigns especially with signed form letter
[[Image:Pro-Life Demonstration at Supreme Court.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Pro-life activists demonstrating in front of the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] in Washington, D.C.]]
=== Civil disobedience demonstrations ===
Any protest could be [[civil disobedience]] if a “ruling authority” says so, but the following are ''usually'' civil disobedience demonstrations:
* [[Public nudity]] or [[topfree]] (to protest [[indecency]] laws or as a [[publicity stunt]] for another protest such as a war protest) or animal mistreatment (e.g. [[PETA]]'s campaign against fur)
* [[Sit-in]]
* [[Raasta roko]] (people blocking auto traffic with their bodies)
=== As a residence ===
* [[Peace camp]]
* Formation of a [[tent city]]
=== Destructive ===
* [[Riot]] - Protests or attempts to end protests sometimes lead to rioting.
* [[Self-immolation]]
=== Direct action ===
* [[Nonviolent resistance]]
* [[Occupation (protest)|Occupation]]
=== Protesting a government ===
* [[Tax resistance]]
* [[Conscientious objector]]
* [[Flag desecration]]
[[Image:NATO protests Istanbul(2).jpg|thumb|250px|left|Demonstration against the [[2004 NATO summit]] in [[Istanbul]].]]
=== Protesting a military shipment ===
* [[Port Militarization Resistance]] - protests which attempt to prevent military cargo shipments.
=== By government employees ===
* [[Bully pulpit]]
* [[Judicial activism]]
=== Job action ===
* [[Strike action]]
* [[Sitdown strike]]
* [[Walkout]]
* work-in
=== In sports ===
During a [[sport]]ing event, under certain circumstances, one side may choose to play a game "under protest", usually when they feel the rules are not being correctly applied. The event continues as normal, and the events causing the protest are reviewed after the fact. If the protest is held to be valid, then the results of the event are changed. Each sport has different rules for protests.
=== By management ===
* [[Lockout (industry)|Lockout]]
=== By tenants ===
* [[Rent strike]]
=== By consumers ===
* [[Boycott]]
* [[Consumer Court]]
[[Image:AnonymousProtest.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Anonymous (group)|Anonymous]] demonstration in [[London]] against the [[Church of Scientology]].]]
=== Information ===
* Informative [[letter]]s, letter writing campaigns, letters to the editor
* [[Teach-in]]
* [[Zine]]
* [[Soapbox]]ing
=== Civil disobedience to censorship ===
* [[Samizdat]] (distributing censored materials)
* Protest [[Graffiti]]
=== Literature, art, culture ===
* [[Culture jamming]]
=== Religious ===
* [[Recusancy]]
== Usage in American English ==
In [[American English]], the verb ''protest'' often acts [[transitive verb|transitively]]: ''The students protested the policy''. Elsewhere one can still find [[intransitive verb|intransitive]] usage: ''The students protested against the policy''; ''or'': ''The students protested in favor of the policy.''
==Teach-in==
Early protests began with basic things such as a teach-in. These were organised from 1965 onwards, at these speakers representing different viewpoint debated issues.
[[Image:Sydprot.JPG|thumb|250px|right|[[Lebanon|Lebanese]] protest in [[Sydney]] during the [[2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict]]]]
== Economic effects of protests against companies ==
A study of 342 US protests covered by the [[New York Times]] newspaper in the period [[1962]] and [[1990]] showed that such public activities usually had an impact on the company's publicly-traded [[stock]] price. The most intriguing aspect of the study's findings is that what mattered most was not the number of protest participants, but the amount of media coverage the event received. Stock prices fell an average of one-tenth of a percent for every paragraph printed about the event.<ref>[[Deseret Morning News]], 13 Nov. 2007 issue, p. E3, ''Coverage of protests hurts firms, Cornell-Y. study says'', Angie Welling</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Action on climate change]]
* [[Anti-globalization]]
* [[2006 Dalit protests in Maharashtra]]
* [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution]]
* [[France Protest]]
* [[Gandhigiri]]
* [[2006 Indian anti-reservation protests]]
* [[May 1968]]
* [[Police]]
* [[Port Militarization Resistance]]
* [[Protest art]]
* [[Protests against the 2003 Iraq war]]
* [[Right to protest]]
* [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]]
* [[UK fuel protests]]
* [[2008 Republican National Convention Protest]]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
{{commonscat|Protests}}
{{Wiktionary|protest}}
*[http://tortureprotest.org/slideshows/denounce_torture Slideshow of pictures] from the [[Amnesty International]] denounce torture rally at [[Portland, Oregon]].
*[http://www.globalcitizen.co.uk/about/essays/ictsandprotest.doc Essay examining ICTs and protest]
*[http://www.alternet.org/story/19541/ High-tech protest at the 2004 Republican National Convention]
*[http://resist.ca/~kirstena/pageparentingvsprotesting.html Parenting Versus Protesting: Are They Mutually Exclusive?]
*[http://users.resist.ca/~kirstena/pageteeensandprotests.html Is There A Legal Age for Political Dissent? Teens at Protests!]
*[http://platial.com/deisnor/map/1693 Important Protests] Mapped on Platial.
*[http://www.theprometheusinstitute.org/politics/politics/54-politics/197-why-public-demonstration-is-a-useless-form-of-activism Why public demonstration is a useless form of activism] Criticism of protesting from the [[libertarian]] think tank, the [[Prometheus Institute]].
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