From the French Revolution and the women's suffrage movement to the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, social movements and protests have served as catalysts for some of the most important events in world history. Still today, social and political change is sought through local and global collective action, such as the ‘Occupy’ or the LGBTQ+ rights movement, the Black Lives Matter, the Rhodes Must Fall, or Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil.

These movements and the means employed to raise awareness and drive political change often spark controversy. If we look at the headlines of international media, only in the past few days we had Stonehenge covered in powder paint by Just Stop Oil protesters, pro-Palestine protesters targeting Barclays bank branches, a milkshake thrown over Nigel Farage after the launch of his electoral campaign, animal rights activists plastering the official portrait of King Charles, and many others. And of course since October 2023, we have had sit-ins and student encampments in universities relating to Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

In this episode, together with Audrey Cherryl Mogan, barrister at Garden Court Chambers, and SJ Cooper-Knock, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Sheffield, we discuss the legal framework regulating the activities of social movements, the right to protest, and the role of the police, and explore the broader political and social context within which these movements operate.