Te Black Blocs made a spectacular entrance into the Movement for Global Justice on November at the “Battle of Seattle,” when they smashed thewindows of McDonald’s, Nike, Gap, and a few banks. In April , almost ten years later, a Black Bloc is involved in skirmishes with police at Strasbourg during the NATO Summit. The aim of this article, which is largely based oninterviews with militants, analyses of their discourses, and first-hand observa-tions of demonstrations, is to identify how the Black Bloc tactic originated and spread, and to understand the political factors that led activists to adopt it. Three intrinsically political questions are addressed: ( 1 ) Who should determine the plan of action within a group of militants? (2) Who should determine the plan of action during a demonstration? (3) Who should determine the criteriato assess the effectiveness of the actions taken by a social movement and speakon its behalf? To answer these questions, the notion of “respect for a diversity of tactics” and the links between the Black Blocs and other militant organizations(both radical and reformist) as well as other blocs (the “Tute Bianche” or WhiteOveralls and the Pink Blocs) are discussed.

Osgoode Hall LJ, 2003

This article examines the (re)emergence of large-scale civil disobedience and the accompanying debates about violence and non-violence in the contemporary anti-globalization movement. Rooted in the Canadian movement but in conversation with wider debates, the article tracks movement practices and debates from the Battle of Seattle through to the Quebec Summit. The debate took a new turn in Genoa, with massive police brutality and the killing of a protester, and again following the events of September 11, 2001. The central argument of the article is that the new forms of civil resistance embody a critique of prevailing forms of organization, participation, representation, and action in Canadian social movements. Respect for diversity of tactics emerged as a non-negotiable basis of unity in this context. The author goes on to argue that, by June 2002, this stance had hardened into an ideology that functioned to restrict genuine diversity and threatened democracy and pluralism in the movement. The article ends with reflections on how the threat of war and the emergence of a global anti-war movement has again transformed the landscape of the anti-globalization movement.

Mobilization: An International Quarterly, 2001

The massive protests at the Third Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization in November 1999 resulted from broad and accelerating changes in global social and political relations. Many protesting groups had been involved in previous struggles for global economic justice that shaped their identities and strategies in Seattle. This study examines the participants, activities, and political context of the "Battle of Seattle." It explores the transnational activist linkages and suggests that a division of labor was present whereby groups with local and national ties took on mobilization roles while groups with routinized transnational ties provided information and frames for the struggle. An examination of the tactics used in Seattle suggests that national protest "repertoires" have been adapted for use in global political arenas. There is also some evidence of protest innovation in response to global political integration and technology. While this study e...

Political violence by non-state actors, whether in the form of clandestine groups, riots, violent insurgencies, or civil wars, often emerges in the context of social movements, can shift back to non-violent methods of contentious collective action, and in many cases does not mark a new and separate phase of contention but proceeds in parallel with street protests, marches, boycotts, and strikes. At the same time, different forms of political violence are interlinked and are part of a continuum of repertoires of actions-rather than representing discrete and mutually exclusive types-and often occur successively or simultaneously during processes of conflict escalation (when violence increases in scale, type, and scope) or de-escalation (when violence overall decreases).

Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, 2017

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters' suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

Australasian Document Computing Symposium, 2014

At the G20 protests in Pittsburgh in 2009 a popular chant included the phrase, "We're here! We're queer! We're anarchists, we'll fuck you up. " However, it is virtually impossible that every member of the black bloc using this chant self-identified as queer in their day-today life. In this article, I argue that the presentation of self among black bloc participants, especially the masking of the face with a black bandana and the wearing of black itself, allows for the destruction of a previously held identification and the temporary recreation of a new identification. I emphasize theories developed by Deleuze & Guattari and Giorgio Agamben. I also analyze a zine produced by the organizers of the resistance to G20 in Pittsburgh to show that my interpretation of the black bloc subjectivity is reflected in the claims of black bloc participants.

2018

Even though “militancy” is frequently used in scientifi c literature and in the daily life of parties and social movements, there are few defi nitions of the term. Our goal is to convert the idea of militancy into a research problem. A Brazilian scientifi c literature review shows that the term is used either as an adjective, either as a noun. We conceptualize militancy as a methodology to produce collective action aiming to intervene, or to interfere, in current social norms. This methodology focuses on organizations such as parties and unions, characterized by strict discipline that aims to produce docility, commitment, and obeisance. Then, we show how New Social Movements (NSM) have created unconventional tactics and organizations, offering an alternative to the militant methodology. Organizing teams using horizontal arrangements, operating with decentralized and autonomous networks, recognizing the diversity of its participants, NSM are occupying the streets and reinventing the repertoires of collective action and protest. We suggest the use of the word “activism” to describe this methodology. By distinguishing militancy from activism we wish to re(frame) some problems in the Brazilian scene of political engagement and protest.

2007

The aim of the paper is to analyze the causes of the gradual institutionalization of tactics and strategies of the antimilitaristic protest campaign Arms, or Human Rights? [Zbraně, nebo lidska prava?] in the period from 1997 to 2007. The campaigns collective action evolved from an episodic contentious collective action to sustained interaction with opponents under the auspices of a newly formed social movement organization Nesehnuti and the campaigns forms of contention progressed from radical, disruptive actions against opponents to political lobbying and negotiations with political actors and allies within the political establishment. The analysis of interaction between the campaigns internal dynamics and its external conditions will clarify how the campaigns active appropriation of the European Union Code of Conduct on Arms Exports and its politically binding criteria opened to the actors in the campaign an institutional access to negotiations of their claims with political actor...

2018

Democracy and Security, 2019

2011

This article examines the complex relationship between political agency, responsibility, and collective violence in connection with political protest. Contemporary Danish and Swedish left-wing activist narratives of police provocations at political protest events are analysed to clarify how provocation and its relation to the outbreak of violence is retrospectively constructed in radical milieus. Three ‘provocation plots’ are identified that, respectively, present (1) the interaction as purely a matter of attack and defence, (2) provocation as a cause of anger leading to retaliation, and (3) provocation as a trigger bringing about a redefinition of the situation that then offers an opportunity for violence. Subsequent negotiations among political activists regarding the position of moral high ground revolved around the issue of whether responding to the provocation in each of these cases meant taking or losing control of the situation. Internet discussion forums are highlighted as important arenas for debates among members of protest coalitions and in broader social movement milieus in which the interpretation of protest events and their implications for future protest tactics is negotiated. In the cases considered, storytelling after violent events was used to make sense of, and evaluate, often quite chaotic and ambiguous processes of violent confrontation, suggesting itself as a key to understanding the micro-dynamics of how social movement repertoires of action are maintained and developed.

AI

The Conversation, 2017

A short introduction to the Black Bloc tactic.

Interface: a journal for and about social movements, 2014

Reviewed by Gary Roth Francis Dupuis-Déri’s defense of the Black Bloc is disarming in its subtlety. “The Black Bloc,” he tells us, “is not a treatise in political philosophy, let alone a strategy.” For Dupuis-Déri, it is simply “a tactic” (p. 3). But tactics too, as John Berger once pointed out, are often wedded to implied philosophies and unarticulated strategies. Besides, the very purpose of Who’s Afraid of the Black Blocs? is to give voice to Black Bloc participants. They explain in their own terms why these “ad hoc assemblages of individuals or affinity groups that last for the duration of a march or rally” have been ever-present during the last few decades (p. 2). They have emerged as something of a cultural icon. [SEE THE TEXT...]

Black Flags and Social Movements, 2017

Anarchism may be the most misunderstood political ideology of the modern era—it’s surely one of the least studied social movements by English-speaking scholars. Black Flags and Social Movements addresses this deficit with an in-depth analysis of contemporary anarchist movements, as interpreted by social movement theories and the analytical tools of political sociologists. Using unique datasets—gathered by anarchists themselves—the book presents longitudinal and international analyses that focus upon who anarchists are (similar, yet, different from classic anarchists) and where they may be found (most countries in the world, but especially in European and North American cities). Even though scholars have studiously avoided the contradictions and complications that anti-state movements present for their theories, numerous social movement ideas, including political opportunity, new social movements, and social capital theory, are relevant and adaptable to understanding anarchist moveme...

2017

Anarchism may be the most misunderstood political ideology of the modern era, and one of the least studied social movements by English-speaking scholars. Black Flags and Social Movements addresses this deficit with an in-depth analysis of contemporary anarchist movements as interpreted by social movement theories and political sociology. Using unique data gathered by anarchists themselves, Williams presents longitudinal and international analyses that focus upon who anarchists are, and where they may be found. Social movement ideas including political opportunity, new social movements, and social capital theory, are relevant and adaptable to understanding anarchist movements. Due to their sometimes limited numbers and identities as radical anti-authoritarians, anarchists often find themselves collaborating with numerous other social movements, bringing along their values, ideas and tactics.

Theory in Action, 2024

's civil sphere theory makes a significant contribution to understanding how people, especially social movements, relate to society's various institutions. Radicalism challenges the long-term stability of the civil sphere and pushes it to be more open. While capitalism and the state are considered to be uncivil institutions, the civil sphere typically tolerates their existence and negotiates with them. But, what of radical, non-state and antiauthoritarian movements that seek the abolition of all hierarchiescan they join the existing civil sphere or replace it with their own vision? This paper uses three cases studies-the Haymarket Affair, the Spanish Revolution, and Seattle's anti-World Trade Organization protests-to interrogate non-state, anti-authoritarian, and anarchist interpretations of civil society. These cases suggest compatibilities and divergences with civil sphere theory, complicating its interpretation of violence and militancy, civil order breaching, nonstate or extra-state scope, and internationalism.

In this chapter we focuse on non-state actors as perpetuators of political violence. In particulare we focus on organized and higher-level forms of political violence, rather than on smaller-scale and less organized forms of violence that occur during street demonstrations or in the form of riots. Yet we explicitly emphasize that different forms of political violence are interlinked and are part of a continuum of violent tactics – rather than representing discrete and mutually exclusive types – and often occur successively or simultaneously during processes of escalation. We introduce how social movement scholars have during the past decades approached and analyzed political violence introducing a perspective which entails the contextualization of the phenomenon. We also trace the development of the field in cognate areas of research dealing with political violence, such as: terrorism studies, research on militant Islamism and civil. In the concluding section we will suggest a possible direction for future research on political violence recognizing the achievements produced so far from the social movements field.

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