When the global financial crisis started with the collapse of the sub prime mortgage market in the spring of 2007, it became clear that the world economy was facing a severe downturn and that unemployment would rise. At that time, my husband, the economist Joseph E. Stiglitz, remarked that there would likely be protests all over the world. For the last few years we wondered about why there wasn’t more outrage and we speculated about where the first protests would take place. But we did not expect that we would be in Cairo just a few days before the historic events in Tahrir Square. We were in Cairo on January 14 when Ben Ali left Tunisia. We saw the excitement and the feeling that Egypt would be next. The government officials we met were nervous and it was clear that something huge was beginning.
Like everyone, we spent the spring and then the summer watching the news and trying to keep up with the hectic pace of events: Ben Ali leaving Tunisia, Mubarak falling, and the spread of protests to Syria, Bahrain and Libya. We heard accounts from of the pressure that austerity was putting on the lives of the people there, and how the collapse of the Greek economy, the budget cuts and shrinking wages was hurting so many. We went back to Tunisia in May 2011 and heard our friends describe how life had changed. Mixed with the uncertainty of the political situation was great excitement about what was to come and an affirmation of the power of the people.
We returned to Egypt in July 2011. On that second trip we had the privilege of spending time with Jawad Nabulsi and his colleagues, commonly referred to as “The Youth.” They told us how they had planned the protests, described the scenes in Tahrir Square and spoke of their hopes for Egypt.
Not everyone was optimistic. In Alexandria we met Coptic Christians who were afraid of a new intolerance. Patience had also run out for the military. “It’s time for them to leave,” an old friend told me, echoing what so many said to us. The economy was in a mess, with tourism falling, unemployment high and politics preventing the government from accepting foreign aid that was needed to build housing and infrastructure. In Athens in July we saw protest and in Madrid we met with Indignados running economics seminars in Retiro Park.
The toll of the economic crisis was almost everywhere and it seemed there was no end in sight. Governments had not done enough to protect people from the pain caused by the collapse of the mortgage market, the pressures on the euro and the widespread joblessness and growing inequality. Instead, governments had been bailing out the banks, pushing austerity and standing by while financial titans continued to take home large bonuses. The demonstrations in London in May against tuition hikes for students seemed like a sign of things to come and as we traveled around Europe and the Middle East, we couldn’t understand why we had not yet seen protests in the US.
Then came Occupy Wall Street and another wave of demonstrations around the world. We visited Zuccoti Park where the OWS protests were held and found the same spirit of commitment and enthusiasm and frustration and outrage that we had seen everywhere else in the world. The next morning I decided to edit a book that would tell the story of the global protests of 2011. New Press will be publishing the book in early 2012 and Joe is contributing a chapter.
Gathering the essays in this book put us in touch with many people with a range of experiences. My co-editor, Eamon Kircher Allen, and I spent time online trying to find people who could contribute. We spoke to many friends and acquaintances across the globe and wrote to some of the people who had contacted my husband after our visit with the indignados in Madrid. The voices in this book are not definitive or comprehensive. It’s impossible for a few essays to sum up the rich diversity of the protests of 2011. Finding contributors was not always easy. The demonstrators prided themselves on not having leaders so it was often unclear who we should approach. In some parts of the Middle East, there was fear that contributing a named piece would be dangerous. There were Arabs who refused to appear in a book with an Israeli. And many of the most active protesters didn’t have time to sit down and write, or weren’t sure how best to tell their stories. Many were uncomfortable writing about themselves. They preferred to focus on the causes they fight for. Others don’t speak English so we offered editing and translation help. Some were in hiding. One woman in Bahrain even offered to smuggle a letter from her husband out of the prison where he is being held. At this writing we have essays from someone working on a social audit in Ireland, a student in Greece, Indignados in Madrid, a leftwing economics researcher in Israel, a transparency activist in Tunisia, a journalist in Cairo and a number of people who have been involved in OWS. We have roped in friends to help and we are spending our days editing their contributions.
The similarities in the stories we have been told are apparent. The problems of foreclosures and joblessness, the struggle against inequality and government austerity came up again and again. The reliance on social media and Facebook was a recurring theme, as was the struggle against police brutality. The inspiration of Tahrir Square infused many of the essays we received and so did the hope that the events of 2011 had truly changed the world. Many of the protesters are optimistic and determined. But some are perplexed and don’t understand why governments have not responded to the problems they outline in such detail. We don’t have many answers in this book. But I hope that these essays we are publishing will at least begin to explain why there is so much anger and frustration, and how it surfaced in 2011. If nothing else, the voices of these courageous and civic-minded individuals will convey the spirit that is behind so much of the unrest.
Anya Schiffrin ist lecturer at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and the director of the Media, Advocacy and Communications program. She is married to the economist and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz.