World-Economic Change and Waves of Social Protest: Findings from the Global Social Protest Database, 1851-2023

This panel presents findings from a major new dataset on global social protest from 1851-2023 created by the Global Social Protest Research Working Group at the Arrighi Center for Global Studies (Johns Hopkins University). We will introduce the data-collection process and present key findings on the relationship between world-economic restructuring and social conflict since the mid-19th century, with an eye towards implications for current struggles.

The panelists will present analyses using the data relating to three main issues of concern:

First, we compare the frequency, geographical spread and class composition of the current protest wave with previous global waves of protest (such as those in 1905, 1917-1919, 1968, and 1989). Our data shows that years in which mass social unrest is taking place simultaneously in many countries are rare, and that periods of war and world-hegemonic transition are disproportionately represented among these years.

Second, we examine the relationship of social conflict and the expansion of the world economy, tracing the capitalist incorporation of countries across the global south. Through this analysis, we see how socio-economic processes (especially, global patterns of proletarianization, fluctuations in demand, and pendulum swings between “free” and “regulated” markets) shape national-level patterns of social unrest and vice versa.

Finally, we address the relationship between economic change, ethnic conflict, and racist/anti-racist movements. By placing these social protests in a global and historical context, the panelists will shed light on how the patterns discussed above facilitate the growth of right-wing populist movements around the world in recent decades.