The Iraqi protest movement: from identity politics to issue politics

Beginning in mid-July 2015, one of the largest social protest movements in modern Iraqi history erupted spontaneously in the city of Basra and spread to cities of central and southern Iraq, including the capital Baghdad. This paper examines the principal aspects of this social movement, particularly its political, social and economic underpinnings, its social composition and its growth, and its message and slogans that are mainly directed against political Islam, critiqued as a conduit for corruption. It analyses the impact of the shift from identity to issue-based politics in Iraq – most evident in the 2018 May elections.