If the popular uprisings of 2011 have taught us anything, it is that revolutions do not occur as singular events – with the toppling of a tyrant or the capture of state power – but are complex long-term processes that play out over multiple years or even decades. They involve not just the removal of a government, but also the systemic transformation of political and social institutions, cultural norms and values, human consciousness and collective action. Such revolutions are, by their very nature, social and collaborative processes. In this presentation, I will look back at the uprisings of 2011-12 from the perspective of ‘networked resistance’, analysing how and why – in this time of crisis – the world is suddenly faced with the emergence of decentralized, leaderless protest movements from Tunis to Toronto. Providing a panoramic overview of the ongoing global revolutionary wave, I will not only show how all these uprisings emanate from the same source (a defunct world capitalist system), but also how their similar revolutionary tactics might be an indication of the world that awaits us. I will tell my story along the line of videos and songs of the movement. My final video will be a special address by the Greek resistance hero Manolis Glezos to the Spanish movement, to be premiered at OVNI.
