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If We Burn by Vincent Bevins

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If We Burn

The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution

Vincent Bevins

PublicAffairs · Print & ebook · December 2, 2025

Reading lane: Radical Politics

“A remarkable new history” (David Wallace-Wells, New York Times Magazine ) of a decade aflame—and what we can learn from its embers From 2010 to 2020, more people participated in protests than at any other point in human history.

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Who It's For

Good for readers interested in book clubGood for readers who enjoy Radical Politics and Political Science / Human Rights.

Book Details

Authors
Vincent Bevins
Publisher
PublicAffairs
Published
December 2, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Radical Politics · Political Science / Human Rights
Reading lane
Radical Politics

Affinity

Publisher Categories

  • Other Military Conflicts

  • 21st‑Century History

About This Book

“A remarkable new history” (David Wallace-Wells, New York Times Magazine ) of a decade aflame—and what we can learn from its embers From 2010 to 2020, more people participated in protests than at any other point in human history. Yet we are not living in more just and democratic societies as a result. Acclaimed journalist Vincent Bevins carried out hundreds of interviews around the world, guided by a single, puzzling question: How did so many mass protests lead to the opposi...

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“A remarkable new history” (David Wallace-Wells, New York Times Magazine ) of a decade aflame—and what we can learn from its embers From 2010 to 2020, more people participated in protests than at any other point in human history. Yet we are not living in more just and democratic societies as a result. Acclaimed journalist Vincent Bevins carried out hundreds of interviews around the world, guided by a single, puzzling question: How did so many mass protests lead to the opposite of what they asked for? The result is a stirring work of history that connects events in a dozen countries and reveals that conventional wisdom on revolutionary change is gravely misguided. From the so-called Arab Spring to Gezi Park in Turkey, from Ukraine’s Euromaidan to student rebellions in Chile and Hong Kong, Bevins provides a blow-by-blow account of street movements and their consequences, recounted in gripping detail. In this groundbreaking study of an extraordinary chain of events, protesters and major actors look back on successes and defeats, offering urgent lessons for the future.

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