From the Salt Marches to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, history is littered with examples of peaceful protests having a powerful and lasting impact; shaping the world to become a fairer, freer and more peaceful place.
In recent weeks, over 50 demonstrations occurred across the United Kingdom, focussed on a broad range of issues ranging from environmental concerns to rising living costs1.
While driven by different triggers and motivations, these instances are not unique. The last few years have seen an increasing prevalence of demonstrations related to civil liberties and human rights. New technologies and social movements have enabled campaigns to gain traction and spread globally, encouraging their potential to become hugely influential.
Despite this, the latest Global Peace Index highlights a number of worrying trends. Violent demonstrations have risen by almost 50% since 2008. During this period, 126 countries deteriorated in their violent demonstrations score, compared to only 22 countries improving.
Positive Peace is defined as the attitudes, institutions and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies. While the other domains have improved since 2008, the attitudes domain has deteriorated by 1.8%, demonstrating a clear link between Positive Peace and the global trend in violent demonstrations.