If protest is usually associated with ‘progressive’ causes, recent
   ‘alt-right’ demonstrations have changed the debate about protest. The
   ‘Unite the Right’ march in the USA was widely reported as a gathering
   of white supremacists and neo-Nazis. There have been controversial
   demonstrations in Europe, too, by everyone from Pegida in Germany to
   the UK’s EDL.

--
   accusations of being an apologist for hate and fascism. A related theme
   is the thin line between protest and violent riot: are some
   demonstrations just too toxic and risky to be allowed?

   While debates rage about who should be allowed to protest, there are
--
   signalling rather than realisation of political objectives. As a
   result, many of today’s protests can attract huge crowds, but disappear
   immediately afterwards. Far from being a forceful ‘demonstration’ of a
   wider movement for change, protest often becomes performative, a thing
   in and of itself, with few wider consequences.