2 Why are people protesting? Around the world, people have become increasingly angry at the failures of their governments to address their needs. This is as true for democracies, both new and established, as for more authoritarian governments. Topping the list of main grievances and demands for every year since 2015 is the Failure of Democracy/Political Representation . Incidences of this grievance continued to climb steadily in 2021 and 2022(Figure 1), figuring in 65 per cent of protests for those years 1 . People protesting these governmental failures demand justice, transparency and accountability, point the finger at corruption, and call for effective representation and“real” democracy(Figure 2). Figure 1: Main Grievances and Demands 2006-2022 Source: Authors ’ analysis of world protests in media sources 2006-2022; each episode is counted yearly when ongoing, see: https://worldprotests.org/ Episodes of protest against threats to Civil Rights have been rising for almost a decade, a trend that accelerated in 2021­2022(Figure 1), when the grievance figured in 61 percent of protests. Threatened rights include freedom of assembly, association, thought, and speech as well as the rights of peoples discriminated against because of their race, ethnicity, sex and sexuality, gender, religion, or immigration status. Protests for labor rights, rights to the commons, and personal freedoms are also included(Figure 2). Calls for Economic Justice and protests against Austerity spiked dramatically in 2022(Figure 1), following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, figuring in 48 percent of protests. The stage for a cost-of-living crisis had already been set in 2021 by rising inflation in the global economy and by the widespread implementation of austerity policies by governments exiting Covid stimulus. High food, fuel and other energy costs decreased the quality of life for people in poverty and for middle classes around the world.(Figure 2). Episodes of protest calling for Global Justice regarding the climate, the oceans and environment, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the global commons appear in smaller numbers than the other demands, even though there are large movements behind them. One reason is that many are led by NGOs that have been campaigning for years, in long episodes of activism. Nevertheless, incidences of global justice protests rose in 2021 and 2022, figuring in 22 per 1 Grievances and demands are not mutually exclusive and are frequently found together in protests. Therefore, the percentages given do not add up to 100.