There’s an impor­tant dif­fer­ence between polit­i­cal protests tak­ing place with­in a demo­c­ra­t­i­cal­ly ordered soci­ety and those tak­ing place with­in a crude dic­ta­tor­ship, or a fun­da­men­tal­ly cor­rupt and crim­i­nal regime. This dif­fer­ence is rarely acknowl­edged by the media, or by the­o­rists who casu­al­ly lump all acts of protest togeth­er. But sure­ly, the fact that one process is extreme­ly dan­ger­ous and the oth­er is not should loom large in any analy­sis. Read more »