Fall of Monuments as a Tool for Social Change

This paper will explore a different form of global socio-political protest, which spread in cities worldwide and was characterized by the pulling down of certain monuments in public space. This investigates how the fall of monuments operates as a tool for political resistance against marginalization, discrimination and exclusion, a binding factor for democracy and social justice, and as a means of dealing with contested heritage. Protesters referring to themselves as ‘Fallist,’ common across the world, raise concerns about race, identity, position and recognition in society. They choose pulling down monuments as a tool through which they demand addressing of socio-political injustices. In consideration of the above this study employs the methodological application of qualitative exploratory design as well as analyzing contemporary cases of street protest surrounding the pulling down of monuments from different geographic and socio -political contexts, including South Africa, United States and the United Kingdom. This paper further argues that the pulling down of monuments is thus not merely about contesting the past; it also operates as a tool for inquiring, critiquing, and changing the present.