Vom Protest- zum Quarantänejahr: Neue Arenen der Konfliktaushandlung

Protest movements centered around public spaces emerged globally last year, in Hong Kong, South America, Iran or during the Arab Spring 2.0. While some could already achieve successes or consolidate themselves in 2019, most were hoping to continue pressuring governments and building momentum in 2020. The global pandemic squandered these hopes rapidly: collective decision making, still in the domain of governments, became a crucial factor in fighting the crisis, and protest movements as independent actors did not have a direct response. Simultaneously, public space as an arena for conflict articulation became inaccessible due to anti-pandemic efforts. Protestors were thus driven out of the center of public spaces and into the periphery, where they employed decentralized techniques in order to maintain their mobilization and to compete with state institutions in offering policy choices regarding anti-pandemic efforts. While limiting repertoires of protest movements, new conflict arenas allow them to sustain mobilization for future protest movements and continue challenging state actors. This period of limited protest activities can be used by governments, to accumulate political capital from efficient anti-pandemic policies and to foster cooperations with protesters. Unless they solve underlying causes of protests, however, protest movements will merely delay their activites to a time after the pandemic.