If We Burn
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5.0 • 5 Ratings
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- $22.99
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- $22.99
Publisher Description
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 question: 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.
Customer Reviews
Amazing read
I was a little worried going into this book that I wouldn’t enjoy it nearly as much as I liked Vincent Bevins’ other book, The Jakarta Method, which was one of my favorite books ever. But this book was the perfect follow up. It masterfully weaves personal narrative (told through people that were intimately involved with these protest movements, and sometimes, Vincent himself) into the broader historical context. If you are a left winger / supportive of progressive social movements, or just someone that tries to understand protest movements as best as possible, this is the best post-mortem of the 2010s you can find. You will learn a lot reading this book, even if you already have a pretty firm grasp on the politics of that decade.