I think so! At least, I don’t think protesting is going to lead to change. What it does lead to is a group of really pissed off people, and contrary to what a lot of neolib discourse suggests, a group of really pissed off people can get things done.
I find them great for networking and spreading your own ideas. The protestors are there because they want change. It’s actually pretty trivial to educate them on what will actually lead to it. They probably will forget about what you’ve taught them after their single-issue cause gets resolved, though.
Peaceful protest is completely useless, just think about it what pressure does a march on a Sunday put on anyone.
If the government were the target audience, perhaps. Although governments do listen to protests. They want you to think they’re useless so that people don’t join in for thinking that they’re useless.
But there is another target audience, the public. Don’t underestimate how much protests empower onlookers who agree with the message but haven’t quite plucked up the courage to join in yet.
Seeing tens, hundreds, or thousands march in the street is not necessarily going to change minds. It may change a few but more importantly, it gives those who already agree a change to know that they’re not alone.
That’s powerful, particularly in a world where the right wing control almost all media and use that control to give the impression that everyone is right wing and you’d be cast out if you thought different.
Protests provide a radicalization opportunity, an opportunity to seize narratives, and an opportunity for organizations to connect and gain new members. They’re pretty much useless for affecting the government, as others have pointed out, but that’s kind of the point. When hundreds of thousands of people are marching in the street for months and the government is still saying “Yeah, we don’t care. We’re just gonna keep bombing brown kids instead of fixing homelessness” then that’s kind of hard to ignore for people who are just coming into their political consciousness.
More personally, I find they’re a good place to find likeminded people
Also good for inviting people to, who could be likeminded if they were to witness solidarity in person. I was always sympathetic to some causes but had that liberal nothing-will-ever-change view. Then sometime invited me to a protest. Seeing people come out to stand up for what’s right made me rethink that view.
It’s like when people say don’t vote for a third party because it’s a waste. Well, of course it’s a waste if you agree with me but you won’t vote for them because I won’t and I won’t because you’re convincing me not to. If it works, it only works if we both do it. We only have to decide to do it.
Going to protests, you see the people who are willing to make change with you, even if the protest alone won’t secure the victory. Once it becomes clear that such people exist, and how noisy they can be, an array of political choices suddenly opens itself up. Protests are a visible wedge of the possibility of radical politics.
