By now it's old news that the world is living through a retreat of democracy. For a dozen consecutive years, the number of countries where liberty has declined has exceeded those where it has expanded, according to Freedom House. Autocrats are stepping up repression; populist movements are rising in Europe and the United States. China and Russia are offering new models of high-tech dictatorship.
The drift augurs ill for human governance in the 21st century. That's why it's encouraging that an unexpected and underreported counter-trend has appeared in the summer of 2019. Mass movements of people resisting the new authoritarianism have been popping up across the world.