Iceland review - 2019, Page 89

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Iceland Review
ernment. Thousands took to the streets, in the larg-
est protests the country had ever seen. For life-long
activists like Stefán, it was a strange experience. “It
was a bit like when the underground band that you’ve
been a fan of for years suddenly becomes mainstream
and everyone is listening to them. Suddenly everyone
and their grandma was protesting.”
While many leftist politicians were optimistic
that the sudden momentum would lead to radical,
structural changes, that didn’t turn out to be the
case. “There was a certain group in politics that
thought ‘Now we can take up socialism in Iceland,
no one will vote for the [conservative] Independence
Party ever again.’ But it wasn’t exactly like that. It’s
not like everyone suddenly became communists
after the banking collapse,” Stefán quips. “Many
people went out to protest because they were really
rich in 2007 and they just wanted their money
back. People who had voted for the Independence
Party all their life and switched over to the Left
Green Movement or the Social Democratic Party in
2009, they were always going to switch back. You
really have to have broader support to create social
change. It takes longer.”
Although the Pots and Pans Revolution may not
have had the profound effect that is often attributed
to it by foreign journalists, it nevertheless marked a
shift in Icelandic protest culture. While previously,
protests in Iceland were largely peopled by dedi-
cated activists, suddenly those taking to the streets
belonged to many diverse groups. It’s a change that
is still apparent in the country’s protest culture,
regardless of voting patterns.
Not by violence, but by oft falling
When the US Army finally made the decision to leave
Iceland in 2006, it did so unilaterally – without con-
sulting the locals. After decades of activism, it would
have been easy for the Peace Movement to take the
event as a personal blow. Yet, Stefán says, he doesn’t
doubt the movement’s efforts played a role in the
army’s eventual departure, as well as Icelanders’
attitudes towards war.
“Because there was always strong opposition to
the army here in Iceland and the Americans always
knew that a government could come into power which
would decide to expel them, they hesitated to build up
the army base here. They had plans to build a base for
their submarines here, which was eventually moved to
Scotland. If that had happened, then it’s much more
likely the US Army would still be here. So, you could say
that the struggle caused there to be less military occu-
pation here, and it was easier to get rid of it in the end.”
“The other thing is that opinion polls repeatedly
show that Icelanders are more opposed to military
intervention than most other European nations.
And that doesn’t happen on its own. I give the Peace
Movement a lot of credit for that.” At the end of the
day, the organisation’s persistence has been the key
to its influence. Stefán quotes Lucretius: “‘The drops
of rain make a hole in the stone. Not by violence, but
by oft falling.’”
Protests
are one
manifestation
of the fact that
democracy,
more
specifically
representative
democracy, is in
a difficult spot.