Political unrest is a form of civil disobedience that manifests itself in public protests and strikes. It can take many forms, from the personal angst that results from an unsatisfactory birthday party to the widespread demonstrations against a government’s authoritarian rule or policies that reduce citizens’ economic security and access to justice, education, health and employment.
The triggers for political unrest vary widely by country. They may be economic, such as austerity measures limiting public services or raising the cost of living, or social or environmental, like the resurgence of climate change-related hunger and desertification in parts of Africa. They can also be political, triggered by events that expose corruption or abuse of power during periods of transition, or the resurgence of identity politics, such as the Black Lives Matter movement in the US or the 2020 riots in Belarus over disputed presidential elections.
These driving forces do not exist in isolation but interact and multiplicate each other. Climate change leads to food insecurity, globalisation supports corruption, and poverty feeds political oppression. All these factors are ripe for manipulation through identity politics. These forces can be aggravated by a wide range of other underlying tensions, including misinformation and false narratives. While political unrest declined during the pandemic, it continues to resurface in advanced economies with high levels of inequality and poverty, and in emerging markets and developing countries that face rising costs of living and falling wages. Unrest has become more intense as economic vulnerabilities are compounded by a resurgence of populist and xenophobic politics, with the latter often fueled by false or conspiratorial narratives.
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