Do Strikes Work Any More?

A demonstrator argues with a riot police officer during a general strike in Madrid last week. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

We all saw the news last week about the strikes around Europe. Pictures and videos of clashes with police in riot gear. People marching with signs. Tires burning on street corners. Buses and trains at standstill. Small mom and pop shop owners wondering whether they should close their doors for the day or stay open and deal with threats from demonstrators.

We didn’t cover the strike as it happened in Barcelona, and some of you have asked us why we didn’t write about it here. It wasn’t a conscious decision not to, and we certainly couldn’t ignore the news even if we tried.

Truth is, we’re not really sure how to cover these protests. Right, they’re news events, but we’re not focused on covering one-off events like a newspaper or TV station would. We’re more selectively filtering the news of the day and asking ourselves and others, “What impact did that news event have on youth unemployment? How did it help a young person get a job?” Read the rest of this entry »