Things were looking bleak for the student protest movement in July: they had caused themselves some political discredit with an evening of desničarenje, some divisions were becoming apparent, and the police repression seemed, for a time, to be working. Not so in August: the regime is once again losing the plot and the protests are gaining back force.
What made the difference? In a word, violence. Let’s talk a bit about how regimes that engage in violence undermine their own legitimacy and reveal their limitations.
