Social Movements in a Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Collective activism and social movements are characteristic features of all societies around the world. The dynamics of social movements have increased in pace and frequency over the years. The last decade has been particularly marked by a worldwide explosion of social movements. It is estimated that, globally, mass protests increased annually by 11.5% per year between 2009 and 2019. In 2019 alone, street demonstrations were held in an impressive 114 countries. This trend visibly slowed down in the first quarter of 2020, when the spread of COVID-19 around the globe precipitated a crackdown on social activity in most countries. For instance, data collected from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project shows that protests in April 2020 decreased by 40% compared to the same month in the previous year. This might be explained by the fact that in the middle of April 2020 more than one third of the global population was subject to lockdown laws preventing social gatherings.