If We Burn

The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution

By: Vincent Bevins

Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon

Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

The story of the recent uprisings that sought to change the world—and what comes next

From 2010 to 2020, more people participated in protests than at any other point in human history. Yet we are not living in more just and democratic societies as a result. IF WE BURN is a stirring work of history built around a single, vital question: How did so many mass protests lead to the opposite of what they asked for?

From the so-called Arab Spring to Gezi Park in Turkey, from Ukraine’s Euromaidan to student rebellions in Chile and Hong Kong, acclaimed journalist Vincent Bevins provides a blow-by-blow account of street movements and their consequences, recounted in gripping detail. He draws on four years of research and hundreds of interviews conducted around the world, as well as his own strange experiences in Brazil, where a progressive-led protest explosion led to an extreme-right government that torched the Amazon.

Careful investigation reveals that conventional wisdom on revolutionary change is gravely misguided. In this groundbreaking study of an extraordinary chain of events, protesters and major actors look back on successes and defeats, offering urgent lessons for the future.

©2023 Vincent Bevins (P)2023 PublicAffairs

Critic reviews

“This is a wondrous work of mystery writing, an effort to solve the riddle: Why has a decade of large-scale rolling revolts produced no revolution, no significant structural reform? I can’t think of any journalist other than Bevins who would dare to ask such a question, or be capable of weaving together seemingly discrete global events into a stunning history of now. Have we planted seeds for a better future, or have the gears of change frozen for good? Bevins lets the people he talked to, those on the street, answer.”—Greg Grandin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The End of the Myth

“In this remarkably assured and sweeping history of the present, Vincent introduces us to the activists, hackers, punks, martyrs, and the millions of ordinary people whose spontaneous acts of bravery spurred the mass protests of the last decade. Bevins’s clear-eyed, sympathetic account of the unfulfilled promise of these protests leaves his reader with a bold vision of the future—one in which his book’s lessons are used to transform an uprising into a true revolution.”—Merve Emre, critic, New Yorker

“Ambitious, diligently researched, and provocative, If We Burn will transform the way you think. Vincent Bevins’ detailed, comparative reporting offers a riveting look at the contradictions, unexpected consequences, and lessons of mass protests.”—Alexa Hagerty, author of Still Life with Bones

Excellent modern history

Ties together disparate modern protest movements across the globe into a thought-provoking narrative. Really thorough research and interviews are supplemented by the author's own on-the-ground experience as a long-time foreign correspondent.

A must-read for anyone who has even a passing interest in international politics.

Incredible.

This book is masterful. Bevins somehow manages to synthesize events across the globe throughout a decade in careful detail and engaging prose. It is an important work of recent history that helps us reflect on events we remember well. It is also an essential read for anyone interested in social movements and social change. It offers fascinating insights into the strengths and downfalls of social movements around the world- the same strengths and downfalls that we can expect today. In that way, it does the work of unveiling the recent past and instructing for the future.

Great book exploring the ups and downs of modern protest movements

Pretty good critique of the weakness of horizontalism, and how easy it is to get nowhere or be co-opted. Lots more but that's the big theme imo.

An important read in this new age of revolutions

Vincent’s works speak for themselves. Watching these real time it was hard to tell why they felt “off”. His connections to the real participants and their own reflections helps to fill in the color on the canvas. Very well done.

Simply incredible

Another amazing piece of work from Vincent Bevins. Narration is wonderful and the subject matter is captivating, while still serving it’s purpose as an in depth study into the protest decade.

Thought provoking reporting and analysis

Things can always get worse, power abhors a vacuum, change requires organizing — this books does a fabulous job of explaining why these cliches remain relevant in the age of social media. I found the reporting eye opening. I hope it’s read widely on the left.

must read for those trying to make change

bevins kills it again, this isnt quite as impactful as the jakarta method but thats a high bar

The final word on horizontalism on the left

While I think the author might recoil and the definitiveness of the title of this review, Bevins’ analysis of the mass protest decade illustrates the inadequacies of leaderless, digitally organized mass movements. As someone who saw the effect of the fetishization of leaderlessness play out during Occupy, the Trayvon Martin movement, and OUR Walmart, Bevins’ book feels like the final stake in the heart of that well-meaning, but misguided and ahistorical way of thinking. My hope is that we on the left are able to understand that hierarchy, accountability, and discipline are not inherently “authoritarian,” but even if they are, so what? They work. And if we are interested in the kind of society we think we are, in building a democratic and more egalitarian economy, we shouldn’t shy away from our responsibility to use those tools.

A great excercise on engaged journalism…

…and a handbook on revolutionary strategy. Compeling, readable and relevant. A great summary of recent global history, and specially Brazilian recent history.

couldn't stop listening

Once I started this book, I couldn't stop listening until I finished. Informative and heartbreaking at the same time.