Demo Watch - Help Hold the Line for Democracy
Time magazine declared “the protester” their “person of the year” in 2011--but they could have declared protesters the people of the decade. From the Arab Spring, to Occupy Wall Street, to the Yellow Vests in France, to Black Lives Matter, some of the strongest calls to defend democracy are coming from the streets. But many of these demonstrations have also been marred by violent confrontations between police and protesters. What went wrong?
Social scientists have long tried to answer this question, but have been constrained by the limited capacity of researchers to analyze many protest events at once to identify and compare their granular details. The Demo Watch project will harness the power of new online crowdsourcing technology and the enthusiasm of citizen scientists around the world to generate new, unprecedented data about police-protester interactions.
The Demo Watch project is currently looking for volunteers to read and analyze over 8,000 media reports about the Occupy Wall Street movement, which swept the world in 2011 to call for action addressing income inequality. In some cities, police broke up occupiers’ encampments using rubber bullets and teargas; in others, protesters were able to demonstrate, march, and occupy without arrests or injuries.
Our analyses will provide researchers with an unparalleled level of detail into the actions, events, and strategies resulting in various outcomes. And we’ll be sharing results far beyond the ivory tower to help police, government officials, and citizens make decisions avoiding the use of force in the future.
Volunteers and others can obtain more information and sign up for updates at goodlylabs.org/demowatch-signup or contact us at demowatch@goodlylabs.org. You can help us defend the democratic right to safely demonstrate in just a few hours per week from the comfort of your home! Journalists and potential donors can contact Brigham at the media contact brigham@goodlylabs.org).
Goodly Labs is a non-profit innovation facility leading research and technology projects for the public benefit. Its mission is to equip individuals with the tools they need to find common ground, take responsibility for building a better society, and end systems of violence and domination.
