This issue of Moving the Social is concerned with discourses of democracy, particularly as they manifest themselves in demonstrations. Sebastian Matthias Schlerka’s article presents a computer-assisted analysis of the website of Blockupy (a German anti-austerity movement) to empirically test claims about left-wing ‘identity politics’. Testing two hypotheses – division and distraction – shows that neither is confirmed for Blockupy.Behrad Farmahini Farahani’s article examines how state suppression has shaped protest locations in Tehran from 1905 to 2022, using eight protest events as case studies. It highlights the dynamic relationship between protesters and the state, showing that despite increased repression in the 20th century, protesters adapted by choosing new locations and strategies.György Széll’s article revisits a 2012 publication and argues that participation is ambivalent: it can promote democracy or lead to right-wing populism and fascism.