Benjamin S. Case - Street Rebellion: Resistance Beyond Violence and Nonviolence

As long as there has been private property, there have been angry crowds setting it on fire. Riots have rocked cities throughout modern history in every region of the world, altering the course of political events and generating powerful images of resistance. It is arguably the oldest and most recognizable manifestation of social struggle from below. States have consolidated, technologies have advanced, and the landscape of the Earth is transforming, yet violent protests are no less significant today than they were a century ago. If anything, they are more so. In recent decades, mass civil uprisings have threatened or overthrown governments across the globe, and most of these revolts have included fiery street barricades, property destruction, and physical confrontations between protesters and security forces.

Political demonstrations are increasing worldwide, becoming more intense, and instances of violent protest have grown and spread. Yet we remain stuck in the same arguments over violence and nonviolence, over peaceful protests versus riots. As we move into what is shaping up to be a new global era of street rebellion, it is time to re-assess the ways we understand social movement tactics and strategy.

The dictionary defines a riot as a violent disturbance of the peace by a crowda telling definition that assumes peace is the status quo. We will instead explore riots as crowd disturbances that violate the faade of peace concealing an underlying condition of injustice. Around the world, riots occur in response to similar repeated offenses: political corruption, displacement, deprivation, and most of all, police violence. Across countries and contexts, rioters exhibit patterned behaviorfor example defacing property, smashing windows, attacking buildings associated with political foes, throwing projectiles at police, and burning vehicles, often involving repeated rituals and unspoken rules. The riot is a familiar eventwe know it when we see itmaking the characters involved appear almost interchangeable across time and space. Central to uprisings around the world and throughout history, riots are among the most important and under-studied aspects of social and political struggle.

Riots play a significant role in our imaginations as well. In popular culture, from movies and novels to popular art and music videos, the riot is a favorite narrative mechanism for conveying chaos, disorder, and popular anger. The rioter has been both demonized and romanticized, with their images now widely and rapidly spread via social media. Ever-present in popular culture, riots have received a resurgence of attention following recent uprisings, particularly the global waves of anti-regime protests, racial justice uprisings, and revolutions of the twenty-first centurys opening decades. In the country called the United States, the past few years have seen riots make headline news in New York City, Oakland, St. Louis, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Portland, and in cities and towns across the country. Riots draw media attention, spark strong and polarizing reactions in the public, and are the subject of stubbornly recurring arguments about their legitimacy and appropriateness.

Nearly all mass movements that challenge power involve physically confrontational street actions. However, listening to most public voices today, you wouldnt know it. The term nonviolent is commonly used to designate protests as good, while violent is used to disparage them. When commentators in the media are describing a protest, you can reliably tell which side the talking heads are on based on whether or not they refer to the protest in question as nonviolent. However, many activists and commentators mistake this rhetorical wordplay for material conflict. Those who insist on strict nonviolent discipline argue that protesters will be able to break through their opponents negative portrayals if they strictly and incontrovertibly adhere to the principles of nonviolence, thereby appealing to the broader public with a movement that is clearly legitimate. Yet media that is committed to presenting news through a law-and-order framework are likely to describe serious protests with violent language regardless of what protesters do, and demonstrations by racial minorities tend to be viewed as violent by dominant groups no matter how nonviolent they are. And anyone who has experience in contentious protests knows that police can be just as brutal with nonviolent protesters.