A little louder

When Algerian government declared a health emergency in March 2020 due to Covid19, Protests stopped, people had suddenly lost the right to gather and protest, a right they had gained back in 2019.

On February 22, 2019, Algerians took to the streets in a wave of protests that came to be known as Hirak. Every Friday, millions marched, men and women of all ages walking side by side to reject the status quo and demand political change. The streets became spaces of collective power. Even after Bouteflika’s resignation, the protests continued, targeting the ruling elite that remained in place.

But in March 2020, the government declared a health emergency. The protests stopped. A hard-won right to gather vanished overnight. Many activists were imprisoned. What once felt like an open space for imagining the future began to shrink. I keep asking: how will this movement endure?

At times, I wonder whether the protests, massive and moving as they were, ever had the power to bring about real structural change. How do we keep resisting without the crowd? Perhaps it’s time to rethink the mechanics of dissent. Maybe the mass has lost its force. Perhaps it’s time to shift from large demonstrations to smaller groups, like in guerrilla wars, quiet, agile, and grounded in local realities. Less visible, perhaps, but more resilient.