Time Magazine

December 15, 2011

Protest and Advocacy on Arseh Sevom

Arseh Sevom -- With the announcement from Time Magazine that The Protester is this year's person of the year, we thought this was a good time to remind our readers of all the great content on Arseh Sevom's English site related to protests, demonstrations, and acts of advocacy.The entire Arseh Sevom Zine for Winter 2011 responds to the question: "What's next? What comes after the unity when the messy business of democracy begins?" A good place to start is with The Letter from the Editor, which sets the stage for the rest of the articles.The first issue of Arseh Sevom's Civil Society Zine looks at networking, networks, and change. You might want to check out Linda Herrera's piece: Two Faces of Revolution: Why Dictators Fear the Internet.In Creating the Impossible: The Invisible Network of Britain's Activist Subculture, Avery Oslo discusses the consensus building of eco-activists. Some of it may sound familiar to people who have been following the activities of Occupy Wall Street.
December 15, 2011

The Protester, Time’s 2011 Person of the Year

Arseh Sevom -- In 2009, hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of Iranians took to the streets to express their desire for more open and democratic governance. Most were wary of revolutionary promises and seeking reform with space to participate in society.“I stood on the streets with women in chadors who were protesting for my right not to wear a veil,” a 29-year-old school teacher in Tehran told us. “It surprised me.”That year many people urged Time Magazine to consider the protesters in Iran as the person of the year. They were disappointed by the choice of Ben Bernanke This year Time Magazine focused on The Protester, which professor and activist, Michael Benton calls, “Protest the way the American media establishment wants it -- faceless and ambiguous. Note that last month's time covers in the USA were different from the rest of the world's -- asking Americans to be ‘OK’ with ‘anxiety.’”  Scott Lucas of Enduring America tells Arseh Sevom, “"It is not just The Protester as the Person of the Year. It is the resurrection of belief in protest as a positive, a belief that rights, justice, and a better way of life are not simply to be held and withheld by those who claim to be leaders."