Can Revolution Survive in the 21st Century?

"Over a decade ago, the crushing of the Arab Spring proved how the tools of the digital age, from smartphones to social media, could be weaponized against the very people many hoped they would uplift. Today, Israel's ability to livestream genocide for the world to see without facing any serious repercussions is showing us how easy it is for us to be collectively lulled into complacency, deterred by disinformation, and neutralized by surveillance."

"For more than a century, liberal, democratic societies have believed in the transformative, revolutionary promises of mass politics. We have long assumed that in moments of rupture-when the contradictions of capitalism inevitably push people to the breaking point or when repressive regimes bite off more than they can chew-revolution of some kind becomes possible. But today, our capacity to achieve revolutionary change is rapidly eroding, as hyper-individualism, elite-controlled media, and increasingly sophisticated repressive technologies and tactics undermine our ability to sustain organized, collective action."

Mass access to information failed to democratize power as digital tools can be weaponized against populations. The crushing of the Arab Spring showed how smartphones and social media became instruments of repression. Live-streamed violence, including Israel's broadcasting of atrocities, reveals how complacency, disinformation, and surveillance deter collective response. Revolution is defined as rare, seismic ruptures that overturn and replace existing orders with enduring alternatives. For over a century liberal democracies trusted mass politics to deliver such transformations. That capacity is now eroding due to hyper-individualism, elite-controlled media, and advanced repressive technologies that undermine sustained organized collective action.

Read at The Nation