We are all drawn to think about what is going on,” says Butler, who has had a close eye on various protests around the world, including the current student demonstrations in Montreal. “I think the Montreal protests are very powerful; it is getting global attention and raises fundamental questions about whether students in Canada have a right to an affordable education. It has been powerful enough to cancel classes and stop business as usual. Sometimes you have to bring the machinery to a halt to make a difference.”
“Media is very important in making certain links. News made through social media can be relatively uncensored and it undercuts or contests the more dominant media representations,” explains Butler, who sees protests in one part of the world having an effect on what is happening on the other side of the world.
“I think there was a successful movement on the part of the Chilean students last year opposing tuition. Their success has been an important point of reference for Berkeley, Athens and Montreal. People in Cairo are watching us in the U.S. and people in Chile are watching Athens. The world has been more connected in the last year and a half. There’s an increasing understanding of global dependency and new forms of global alliances.”
Interview by Samantha Sarra. Read it HERE
WANDERLUST 
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