Zachariah Mampilly: How protest is redefining democracy around the world
Zachariah Mampilly: Cómo las protestas están redefiniendo la democracia en todo el mundo
Zachariah Mampilly is an expert on the politics of both violent and non-violent resistance. Full bio
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by the democratic process.
a veces el proceso democrático me frustra.
votar cada pocos años
from their daily challenges
de sus desafíos diarios.
la democracia,
are redefining democracy
se encuentran redefiniendo su democracia
"democrática de protesta".
and academic experts
expertos académicos
multiparty electoral competition.
electoral, regular y multipartidista.
about elites competing at the ballot box.
sobre élites que compiten en las urnas.
engage in every day.
about democratic action.
pensamos sobre acción democrática.
is no longer adequate
como elecciones ya no es válido;
to give it a renewed meaning.
para darle un nuevo significado.
are increasingly taking to the streets
está tomando las calles
have often been at the forefront
a menudo han estado a la vanguardia
de esta manera.
para los que piensan que
to those of who think
Africans engage in politics
se involucre en política
are taking to the streets
más jóvenes a las calles
nonviolent action.
más efectiva.
talking to African activists,
hablando con activistas africanos,
están levantándose
type of regime known to humanity.
conocidos por la humanidad.
the president from stealing a third term.
un tercer mandato.
against entrenched monarchies:
contra las monarquías atrincheradas:
where this image was taken,
elegidos en democracia
the conditions for ordinary people.
las condiciones de la gente.
protest is not exceptional,
la protesta no es excepcional,
to challenge both dictators
desafiar tanto a los dictadores
democracy itself,
contra la democracia misma,
las posibilidades de todos.
major waves of African protest,
de protesta africana,
through the third,
estamos atravesando la tercera
in the 1940s and 1950s
en las décadas de 1940 y 1950
a broad coalition in Ghana
una amplia colación en Ghan
for nonviolent movements globally.
no violentos a nivel mundial.
contra las medidas de austeridad
in the 1980s and 1990s
that imposed harsh conditions
of autocratic regimes
de regímenes tiranos
across the continent.
en todo el continente.
the shortcomings of the earlier two.
las fallas de las primeras dos.
liberation but not democracy,
pero no democracia,
but only for the elites,
pero solo para las élites,
with transforming democracy
en transformar la democracia
like Y'en a Marre in Senegal,
como Yén a Marre en Senegal,
in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
en la República Democrática del Congo,
conventional nongovernmental organizations
de las ONG más convencionales
and political system itself,
y político en sí,
like LUCHA's Fred Bauma
como Fred Bauma de LUCHA
de la comunidad internacional.
from the international community.
from some of the data we collected.
que recopilamos, la lista continúa.
grandes protestas populares
you'll recognize that in 2011,
reconocerán que desde 2011,
of this broader wave.
que es la más amplia.
have been successful.
han sido exitosas.
in Tunisia and in Egypt,
en Túnez y en Egipto,
que los presidentes robaran tres mandatos
presidents from stealing third terms
and Burkina Faso as well.
y también en Burkina Faso.
este aumento significativo de protestas?
Africa is both the youngest
es el continente más joven
between the people and their rulers.
entre la gente y sus gobernantes.
han ido creciendo por más de una década,
have been growing for over a decade now,
impulsados por las inversiones de Asia.
está decayendo.
is trickling down.
en realidad, está disminuyendo
are actually decreasing,
de los trabajadores para ganarse la vida.
for people to eke out a living.
se está disparando,
están cada vez más desconectados
are increasingly disconnected
de esta historia:
de buenos empleos por buenos salarios
in good jobs for good wages
la insignia de una sociedad avanzada;
the hallmark of an advanced society;
por las élites
political parties by elites
out of civil society
de la sociedad civil
to ordinary people;
que no importa lo que hagas,
that no matter what you do,
to the global economy
a la economía global
disminuyen a niveles jamás vistos.
to levels unseen in decades.
to exclusionary nationalism,
nacionalismo elitista,
más débiles y no a los más poderosos.
rather than the powerful.
and Western Europe consider to be new
occidentales consideramos nuevo
of African life since the 1970s.
desde los años setenta.
in resistance to these conditions
en la resistencia
de la democracia de protesta africana?
from African protest democracy?
con los ciudadanos comunes.
with ordinary people.
ha llevado a una desilusión generalizada.
has led to widespread disillusionment.
a los ciudadanos en la vida democrática.
ordinary people in democratic life.
una manera de hacerlo.
sexuality, your gender,
sexualidad, género,
able-bodied or disabled,
capacitado o incapacitado,
by rigid electoral cycles.
por ciclos electorales rígidos.
immediate form of action
mucho más inmediata
retroalimentación instantánea.
pueden ser complicadas,
and contested processes,
y competitivos,
incompletas.
to dismiss protests as riots
que las protestas no son disturbios
of limited political utility.
una unidad política limitada.
más fáciles de reprimir.
protests as elementary to democracy.
como elementales para la democracia.
social movements
de desacreditar el mensaje.
new political imaginations may emerge.
surgen nuevas ideas políticas.
outside the lines,
de pasarse de la raya,
to rewrite the rules of the game
reescriba las reglas del juego
are stacked against them.
have grown up in societies
crecieron en sociedades
has ruled their entire lives.
durante toda su vida.
surjan nuevas posibilidades,
for new possibilities to emerge,
to discover their own power.
comienzan a descubrir su propio poder.
de mi amiga Linda Masarira,
of my friend Linda Masarira,
against the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe.
de Mugabe en Zimbabue,
as she told me a few months ago,
Ya que, como me dijo hace unos meses,
of meaning and direction.
de significado y dirección.
todo lo que está en su contra
young African activists,
y otros jóvenes activistas africanos,
para redefinir la democracia
elections and political parties.
y partidos políticos.
para expandir
beyond what we are told is possible.
de lo que nos dicen que es posible.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Zachariah Mampilly - Political scientistZachariah Mampilly is an expert on the politics of both violent and non-violent resistance.
Why you should listen
Zachariah Mampilly has lived, worked and studied in Africa, South Asia and North America. An expert on the politics of both violent and nonviolent resistance, he is the author of Rebel Rulers: Insurgent Governance and Civilian Life during War (2011), based on extensive fieldwork in rebel-controlled zones of Congo, Sri Lanka and South Sudan. His 2015 book, Africa Uprising: Popular Protest and Political Change (with Adam Branch), examines the ongoing Third Wave of African protest and provides an inside look at recent movements in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda and Sudan.
Mampilly writes widely on South Asian and African politics for a variety of publications, including Al Jazeera, The Hindu, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs and N+1. He's a professor of political science and Africana studies at Vassar College in New York, and he spent 2012-2013 teaching at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as a Fulbright Scholar.
Zachariah Mampilly | Speaker | TED.com