Now available! — in paperback, hardcover, e-book, or audio
US / Canada edition — Bookshop.org; Amazon; Barnes & Noble
UK / EU edition — Bookshop.org; Waterstones; Amazon; Hive
Australia — Booktopia; Amazon; Dymocks
Translations so far:
Italian – Se Noi Bruciamo – 2024 (Einaudi)
Dutch – Het protestdecennium – 2024 (Omniboek)
Brazilian Portuguese – A década da revolução perdida – 2025 (Boitempo)
Spanish – Si Ardemos – 2025 (Capitán Swing)
Korean – 광장의 역설 – 2025 (Truth Foundation)
Arabic – coming 2025 (Khan Aljanub)
Farsi – coming 2025 (Qoqnoos)
Indonesian – coming 2025 (Marjin Kiri)
Romanian – coming 2025 (Fractalia)
*****
Named one of the best books of the year by The New Republic, Journal of Democracy, Verso, and The New Zealand Listener. An n+1 magazine recommended book.
More praise for If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution…
“This is a wondrous work of mystery writing, an effort to solve the riddle: Why has a decade of large-scale rolling revolts produced no revolution, no significant structural reform? I can’t think of any journalist other than Bevins who would dare to ask such a question, or be capable of weaving together seemingly discrete global events into a stunning history of now. Have we planted seeds for a better future, or have the gears of change frozen for good? Bevins lets the people he talked to, those on the street, answer.”—Greg Grandin, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The End of the Myth
“In this remarkably assured and sweeping history of the present, Vincent introduces us to the activists, hackers, punks, martyrs, and the millions of ordinary people whose small acts of bravery spurred the mass protests of the last decade. Bevins’s clear-eyed, sympathetic account of the unfulfilled promise of these protests leaves his reader with a bold vision of the future—one in which his book’s lessons are used to transform an uprising into a true revolution.”—Merve Emre, critic for the New Yorker
“I was not expecting this, but I think If We Burn is even better than The Jakarta Method.”—Benjamin Fogel, editor at Jacobin
“Richly reported history….The giddying, immersive experience of saying “no” to formal mechanisms of representation was at the heart of the movements that Bevins narrates, in an account that traverses São Paulo, Cairo, Hong Kong, Paris and much besides.”—New Statesman
“Hands down the best account — scholarly or journalistic — of the protest decade (2010-2020) across the world. Absolutely brilliant, sensitive, thoughtful, and so wonderful to think with.”—Laleh Khalili, author of Sinews of War and Trade
“Bevins has spent the last 10 years or so following and interviewing in search of answers. ‘The point was not just to notice that the mass protest decade hasn’t really worked out,’ he muses toward the end of the book. ‘The idea was to understand why.’ Fortunately, he comes away from his globe-trotting search with critical lessons for activists both here and abroad.”—The New Republic
“A must-read for anyone trying to make sense of the profound global transformations since 2008. If We Burn brilliantly interweaves lived experiences and historical context to explain the confusing and effervescent years that changed not only Brazil, but the world as we know it. And the prose is delightful. I started reading and could not stop.”—Rosana Pinheiro-Machado, author of Amanhã Vai Ser Maior and The Rise of the Radical Right in the Global South
“A riveting, almost novelistic narrative”—Dazed
“[A] remarkable new history….For a full decade, mobilized by social media and inflamed by the inequities of globalization, the world was on fire with mass protest.”—David Wallace-Wells, The New York Times Magazine
“If you have ever marched for something and lost, you should read Vincent Bevins’s “If We Burn…disturbing and exhilarating.”—The New Yorker
“This book is phenomenal. A thrilling, blow by blow (and often live on-the-ground) analysis of how the various people-led movements and revolutions over the last decade succeeded or failed. Incalculably useful to anyone who’d like to make substantive, enduring changes to their town, country or even the world. I cannot think of a book that so soberly and forensically analysed the very recent past. If We Burn is about as good as journalism gets.”—Rob Delaney, author of A Heart that Works
“Bevins’s colorful reportage captures the élan of militants…and he’s also incisive in his critique….The result is an illuminating postmortem on a decade of false dawns.”—Publishers Weekly
“The best book I read this year….If We Burn is a globetrotting journey of historical reportage. Bevins conducted more than 200 interviews in 10 countries. Attentive to local particularities, he diligently retells how each protest developed before zooming out to ponder the implications for the “mass protest decade” and consider what would be required for such movements to succeed in the future.”—Eamon Whalen, Mother Jones
“Once you have read this incredible new book, you will start seeing its lessons absolutely everywhere, all around you.”—Dharna Noor, climate reporter at The Guardian
“Outstanding….[Bevins] cares enough about his subjects to do them justice. His memorable descriptions are among the book’s chief pleasures. It’s hard to forget the ‘rowdy and gregarious’ Mayara, fan of the all-woman Brazilian punk band Menstruação Anarquika (Anarchic Menstruation), or Bahar, the ‘wry and impish scientist’ who joined Turkey’s uprising.”—Current Affairs
“Tremendous”—Ryan Grim, The Intercept
“Bevins is sharp on the way right-wing TV channels and shadily funded free-market think tanks sought to shape the reception of this ‘fundamentally illegible eruption of contention’….The lessons that Bevins’s defeated protesters offer at the end of If We Burn bear repeating.”—London Review of Books
“A brilliant and masterfully reported dissection of the rise of global popular movements, the self-defeating mistakes they made, the strategies the corporate and ruling elites employed to retain power and crush the aspirations of a frustrated population, as well as an exploration of the tactics popular movements must employ to successfully fight back.”—Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
“Crucially, the book draws deeply on protestors’ own words. If We Burn thereby offers both a postmortem of the last decade of mass protest and a blueprint for the inevitable next. In searching for the missing revolution, Bevins may help others find it after all.”—Los Angeles Review of Books
“This insightful study should prove valuable to future activists across the globe.”—Kirkus
“This book tries to solve perhaps the most important puzzle posed by recent history“—Daniel Denvir, n+1 magazine book recommendations
“Widely acclaimed…Bevins’ theoretical interventions make it clear that taking to the streets en masse to raise awareness for a good cause is model that is historically contingent, and may even have had its day.”—De Groene Amsterdammer (Netherlands)
“Indispensable for anyone who wants to understand the protests and revolutions of this period. It is the deepest and widest study that exists….and Vincent writes very well. He is able to create a fluid, fast-moving narrative that explores concepts and explains contexts that are dense and inaccessible in others’ hands”—Camila Rocha, columnist at Folha de S.Paulo (Brazil) and author of Menos Marx, Mais Mises
“An extraordinary and readable global history that weaves together compelling personal narrative, crisp explanatory reportage, and insightful political analysis. Everyone can learn from If We Burn.”—Journal of Democracy
“Intelligent and profound” – Il Tascabile (Italy)
“The 2010s ushered in a new dawn of protest. This lucid account of recent political and social history explains why the uprisings failed….A singularly comprehensive and discursive study”—New Zealand Listener
“Vital and timely….Bevins is a great story teller. You can taste the tear gas. You experience these protests, and not simply read about them.”—The Ecologist
“An essential read for all would-be revolutionaries – and the millions of activists working to transform the global economy.”—Anne Pettifor, System Change
“Millions of people took to the streets all around the world, whether they were defending local trees or toppling authoritarian regimes. What they had in common was an initial feeling of power and possibility that gave way to very different outcomes. In “The Decade of the Missing Revolution,” Bevins takes this web of ideas, disputes, and discourses and untangles it.”—O Globo (Brazil)
“Bevins provides a sobering account of the period from 2010 to 2020, which serves as a cautionary tale to future activists”—Foreign Policy
“Bevins has become the twenty-first-century version of a type of writer that was common fifty or sixty years ago, but disappeared…his latest book, If We Burn, is part of the same tradition as The Wretched of the Earth, the classic work on decolonization written by Frantz Fanon, with a prologue by Jean-Paul Sarte.”—El Mundo (Spain)
“Bevins’ ambitious history of this time effortlessly glides among a diverse set of countries and regions…weaving together historical context, social theory and the firsthand experiences of sources he interviews. These stories from people who were present on the ground are the heart and soul of the book and a testament to Bevins’ skills.”—Real Change News
“Bevins’ compelling investigation of mass protest in the 2010s raises vital questions of…and he brings events vividly back to life and allows you to explore them alongside his interlocutors”—Counterfire
“After closely studying grassroots movements around the world and speaking with their veterans, Bevins’s conclusion is sobering.”—Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
“Un bellísimo libro”—Globalist (Italy)
*****
Translations and publicity — contact
We are currently seeking partners to publish the book in as many territories as possible, and continue to promote the book internationally. For any inquiries regarding translation rights, do not hesitate to get in touch. The same goes for media requests, and you can reach me at vbevins@gmail.com.
*****
Errors and Revisions
In the spirit of full transparency, I have published a list of the changes made since the publication of the first hardcover edition.
*****
Tour dates (2023 and 2024)
Oct 4: New York, Greenlight Bookstore (with Krithika Varagur)
Oct 5: Philadelphia, Making Worlds (with Nazia Kazi)
Oct 7: Baltimore, Red Emma’s (with Dharna Noor)
Oct 8: Washington D.C., Politics and Prose (with Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò)
Oct 10: Toronto Public Library [virtual event] with Camila Escalante
Oct 12: Boston College (with Fernando Bizzarro)
Oct 15: Chicago, In These Times (with Asha Ransby-Sporn)
Oct 17: UC Berkeley (with Daniel Aldana Cohen)
Oct 18: Los Angeles, Skylight Books (with Jollene Levid)
Oct 26: London, Daunt Books (with Yara Rodrigues Fowler)
Nov 1: Bristol, Bookhaus (with Darran McLaughlin)
Nov 2: Manchester, Islington Mill (with Partisan Collective)
Nov 4: London, Radical Bookfair (with Laleh Khalili)
Nov 13: Lisbon, Livraria da Travessa (with revista Setenta e Quatro)
Nov 21: Berlin, Flutgraben (with Bloque Latinoamericano)
Nov 30: Dublin, Connolly Books (with Rosana Pinheiro-Machado)
Dec 7: Chicago, Haymarket Books [virtual event] with Naomi Klein
January 24: King’s College, London (with Hossam el-Hamalawy)
February 21: University of Sheffield (with Molly Avery and Rodrigo Nunes)
February 24: Glasgow, Aye-Aye Books / Centre for Contemporary Arts
February 29: Yale Law School (with Chisato Kimura and Chloe Miller)
March 6: NYU Law School (with Anjali Kamat and Analilia Mejia)
May 4: Oakland, 815 Alice St. (with Seeing Red)
June 10: University of Birmingham (with Capital and Class)