Civil Disobedience

Nearly 30,000 people took to the streets of Berlin on January 18, 2014 to protest the industrialisation of farming and the E.U.-U.S Free Trade Agreement currently under negotiation. In addition to making their demands heard, the organisers gave a voice and a face to Agrarwende, a citizen movement that is gaining steam in Germany and that calls for a rethinking of agriculture.

The protests in Turkey draw their strength from their diversity: witty artists, dedicated environmental activists and Muslims opposed to neoliberalism. Together, they stand a chance of opposing Erdogan’s authoritarian, arrogant government.

What is the similarity to the Arab Spring? A complete social uprising, which has since mobilised Quebec’s social-democratic and predominantly French speaking society, with an unemployment rate below 7%.