Protest expresses relatively overt reaction to events or situations: sometimes in favour, more often opposed. Protesters may organize a protest as a way of publicly and forcefully making their opinions heard in an attempt to influence public opinion or government policy, or may undertake direct action to attempt to directly enact desired changes themselves.
Self-expression can, in theory, in practice or in appearance, be restricted by governmental policy, economic circumstances, religious orthodoxy, social structures, or mediamonopoly. When such restrictions happen, grumbles or interior opposition may spill over into other areas such as culture, the streets or emigration.
Note: In American English the verb "protest" often acts transitively: The students protested the policy. Elsewhere we still find intransitive usage: The students protested against the policy; or: The students protested in favour of the policy.
Politicalprotest is the kind of political activity, eg, demonstrations, strikes and even VIOLENCE, usually but not always undertaken by those who lack access to the resources of organized PRESSURE GROUPS, or by those whose values conflict sharply with those of the dominant ELITE.
Protest movements in Canada, which were concerned particularly with the economic grievances of farmers and workers, erupted in the early part of this century.
Protest campaigns against bilingualism and metrification, the movement for western SEPARATISM and the movement against ABORTION (eg, the Pro-Life Campaign) have all shown that protest movements are no monopoly of the political left.
The deepest roots of protest against the régime are of a moral and ideological nature, and may be found in the individuals, their spirituality, values and self-definition of moral beings.
They protest because they feel that there is nothing else left to do and that they cannot go on like this any longer, since this would entail the loss of material or moral dignity, and denying themselves the right of self-determination and independent life.
As we have stated, what provokes politicalprotest is not any threat to values and the good, but only the concern over such values as are significant and essential, and make up group and human identity in a given culture, thereby defining the limit that cannot be exceeded if one is to remain oneself.
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