Iceland review - 2019, Blaðsíða 88

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Iceland Review
At the heart of downtown Reykjavík lies the small,
sheltered Austurvöllur square, criss-crossed by
walking paths and lined with lilac trees. In the middle
of the square, facing the unassuming two-storey
structure that houses Iceland’s parliament, is a
statue of Jón Sigurðsson, leader of Iceland’s 19th cen-
tury campaign for independence from Denmark. At a
national meeting called by the Danish government in
1851, Jón led Icelandic representatives in opposing a
new constitution which would limit Icelanders’ rights.
“We all protest!” they famously called out. “Vér mót-
mælum allir!”
The statue of this famous Icelandic protester has
since fittingly looked down upon many other activists
who have occupied Austurvöllur, which has since
become the gathering place for locals who want to
speak out on any issue. While many are familiar with
Iceland’s mass protests following the 2008 banking
collapse, the country’s history of protest in the mod-
ern era is much longer and more complex, spurred by
issues ranging from women’s liberation and nuclear
disarmament to, most recently, action on climate
change and asylum seekers’ rights.
Yet by many measures, Icelanders are among
the happiest people on earth, and Iceland one of the
best places to live. So, what is it that drives locals of
a wealthy, peaceful country to protest in the streets?
And have these protests, which are miniscule on a
global scale, spurred any tangible changes?
Winter of discontent
If you follow Icelandic news these days, you may feel
as if there are daily protests in the country. This
spring, low-wage workers took to the streets following
a breakdown in wage negotiations. Since February, a
youth-led climate strike has been taking place weekly
to urge the government to act on climate change.
Asylum seekers have also been protesting for weeks,
demanding work permits, due revision of asylum
cases, and equal healthcare access, among other
things. The fact that so many diverse groups are
taking to the streets, may suggest there is something
connecting their disparate causes.
I met with Professor of Philosophy Björn
Þorsteinsson to try to understand what’s behind the
sudden surge of dissent. Though protesters’ issues
may be different, Björn says, they’re not unrelated. “I
think it’s very important to look at the big picture,”
he observes. “These issues are all connected. For
instance, the stream of people from abroad is con-
nected to both climate change and economic inequal-
ity. We are experiencing a hangover of globalism right
now..”
Björn believes the growing protest movement
in Iceland is a sign that democracy is in trouble, not
only in Iceland but around the world. “Protests are
one manifestation of the fact that democracy, more
specifically representative democracy, is in a diffi-
cult spot. People distrust the government and their
elected representatives, but also political authority
in general. People believe that those elected to govern
don’t always hold the interests of the public in high
regard.” He adds, however, that “there can be very
differing reasons behind why people protest. A gen-
eral feeling of injustice, anger caused by inequality, or
even negative feelings such as envy of those who are
better off, fear of those who are foreign or different,
or fear of the future or of societal change.”
Looking abroad
What drives Icelanders to protest is really not so dif-
ferent from what drives activists all around the world,
according to historian Stefán Pálsson. A lifelong
activist, Stefán served as chairman of Iceland’s Anti-
War Association (Samtök hernaðarandstæðinga)
for 15 years. The Icelandic Peace Movement, Stefán
tells me, has always been closely connected to its
international counterparts. “The peace movement
has always been international. It’s always very closely
followed what’s happening abroad and used the same
tools, methods, and discourse. We always see the
same movements in Iceland as we see in Europe and
the US, they just sometimes happen a bit later.”
The protest methodology of Icelandic anti-war
organisations founded in the late 1950s, direct
predecessors of the Anti-War Association, were
directly inspired by the British Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament (CND). While the CND organised
marches from the Atomic Weapons Research
Establishment in Aldermaston to London, Icelanders
marched from the US Army base in Keflavík to
Reykjavík to protest the army’s occupation of the
country.
When anti-war protests around the world started
to shift their methodology, so did the peace move-
ment in Iceland. “Instead of the emphasis being on
holding a huge meeting, filling a theatre with people,
holding speeches, and signing resolutions, people
started to do things like set up peace camps, make
art installations, or do performances. Artists became
very active at this time and there was more symbol-
ism and strong imagery.” Other protests have been
closely tied to international movements, not least the
current youth-led climate strike, an initiative that
originated with Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and
has spread across the globe.
Pots, pans, and progress
Perhaps the best-known protests in Iceland are
those that erupted following the banking collapse.
Known as the Pots and Pans Revolution, the series of
protests played a role in bringing down the ruling gov-