Fawkes
14th October 2011, 20:27
Recently I've been thinking about the effectiveness (or maybe just overusage) of passive forms of direct action like sit-ins or the whole mentality of being content with arrest. A common refrain I've been hearing at OWS and other not-so-radical protests is "those of you who are willing to be arrested should be in the front" or something along those lines. Why the hell would anyone be willing to be arrested? There's a difference between willingness and acceptance of the possibility. A lot of people seem to hold being arrested at a demo as a badge of honor. I don't know about others, but I consider not being arrested as more of a badge of honor than being fingerprinted, photographed, and documented by the state.
Growing out of the protests of the 1960s, it seems that these methods were a reaction to the sudden presence of mass media at protest events. The idea was to present yourself as peacefully as possible, and then when the cops start abusing you and arresting you, use the footage obtained from it to gain public sympathy and support. This seems to be problematic in a number of ways:
For one thing, huge portions of the population are already very well-versed in the practices of the police. Most people who are black, hispanic, trans, working-class, etc. experience or witness this type of brutality on a regular basis. That's why I think the whole notion of police brutality is kinda bullshit. The job of a police officer is to brutalize and oppress, it sorta comes with the territory. It's only shocking largely to well-off white people to see police beating and spraying protestors. So, the sympathy or support that could potentially be gained from this is pretty limited to the relatively small portions of the population that have not lived in such a situation where this violence practically becomes internalized. Cops don't really care that "the whole world is watching" because most of the world isn't watching this, they're living this.
Second, how could it be at all advantageous to willingly allow yourself to be put into the criminal justice system? This seems to suggest not only a faith in the legal system once you're past the initial stages of arrest, it also is an acceptance and reinforcement of the power the police hold.
So you want to occupy a space? Fine, but how about defending it and challenging the authority of the state rather than allowing its control to be exerted over you by just sitting and letting them drag you away without any attempts at defense
By far the most effective weapon of any police force (and really the state in general) is fear. By showing a willingness to actively confront the state, that fear is diminished, if not erased entirely. That's how you galvanize people to take action: you debase the police's ability to use fear as a means of keeping you in line.
Obviously, each action demands its own tactics, but this removal of fear is why I so admire the strategies of Tute Bianche and the WOMBLES. What differentiates them from a black bloc is the insertion of humor. Not only are all of them dressed identically and fully defended for every physical weapon the police can throw at you short of guns, they use padding and inflatables as shields. I mean, how scary can a police force be when a bunch of people dressed like the Michelin man and holding innertubes are able to confront them?
Sorry if this sounds like a rant, I've been awake for almost 30 hours now and my brain's goin a little crazy, but yeah, thoughts?
Also, I don't mean to discount passive resistance entirely, I just think it's an incredibly overused strategy.
Growing out of the protests of the 1960s, it seems that these methods were a reaction to the sudden presence of mass media at protest events. The idea was to present yourself as peacefully as possible, and then when the cops start abusing you and arresting you, use the footage obtained from it to gain public sympathy and support. This seems to be problematic in a number of ways:
For one thing, huge portions of the population are already very well-versed in the practices of the police. Most people who are black, hispanic, trans, working-class, etc. experience or witness this type of brutality on a regular basis. That's why I think the whole notion of police brutality is kinda bullshit. The job of a police officer is to brutalize and oppress, it sorta comes with the territory. It's only shocking largely to well-off white people to see police beating and spraying protestors. So, the sympathy or support that could potentially be gained from this is pretty limited to the relatively small portions of the population that have not lived in such a situation where this violence practically becomes internalized. Cops don't really care that "the whole world is watching" because most of the world isn't watching this, they're living this.
Second, how could it be at all advantageous to willingly allow yourself to be put into the criminal justice system? This seems to suggest not only a faith in the legal system once you're past the initial stages of arrest, it also is an acceptance and reinforcement of the power the police hold.
So you want to occupy a space? Fine, but how about defending it and challenging the authority of the state rather than allowing its control to be exerted over you by just sitting and letting them drag you away without any attempts at defense
By far the most effective weapon of any police force (and really the state in general) is fear. By showing a willingness to actively confront the state, that fear is diminished, if not erased entirely. That's how you galvanize people to take action: you debase the police's ability to use fear as a means of keeping you in line.
Obviously, each action demands its own tactics, but this removal of fear is why I so admire the strategies of Tute Bianche and the WOMBLES. What differentiates them from a black bloc is the insertion of humor. Not only are all of them dressed identically and fully defended for every physical weapon the police can throw at you short of guns, they use padding and inflatables as shields. I mean, how scary can a police force be when a bunch of people dressed like the Michelin man and holding innertubes are able to confront them?
Sorry if this sounds like a rant, I've been awake for almost 30 hours now and my brain's goin a little crazy, but yeah, thoughts?
Also, I don't mean to discount passive resistance entirely, I just think it's an incredibly overused strategy.