Two Sides of a Barricade Item Type Book Authors Scholl, Christian DOI 10.1353/book.23972 Publisher SUNY Press Rights Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Download date 06/10/2021 23:35:44 Item License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Link to Item https://www.sunypress.edu/p-5583-two-sides-of-a- barricade.aspx TWO SIDES OF A BARRICADE 33835_SP_SCH_FM_00i-xiv.indd 1 10/26/12 12:29 PM SUNY series, Praxis: Theory in Action —————— Nancy A. Naples, editor 33835_SP_SCH_FM_00i-xiv.indd 2 10/26/12 12:29 PM TWO SIDES OF A BARRICADE (Dis)order and Summit Protest in Europe Christian Scholl 33835_SP_SCH_FM_00i-xiv.indd 3 10/26/12 12:29 PM Cover images © Mat Jacob/Tendance Floue and Meyer/Tendance Floue Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2012 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu Production by Diane Ganeles Marketing by Fran Keneston Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Scholl, Christian, 1980– Two sides of a barricade : (dis)order and summit protest in Europe / Christian Scholl. p. cm. — (Praxis : theory in action) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4384-4512-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4384-4513-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Social movements—Europe—History—21st century. 2. Protest movements— Europe—History—21st century. 3. Opposition (Political science)—Europe— History—21st century. 4. Dissenters—Europe—History—21st century. I. Title. HN377.S257 2012 303.48'4094—dc23 2012003673 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 33835_SP_SCH_FM_00i-xiv.indd 4 10/26/12 12:29 PM To Saskia Poldervaart 33835_SP_SCH_FM_00i-xiv.indd 5 10/26/12 12:29 PM Lenin’s wager—today, in our era of postmodern relativism, more actual than ever—is that universal truth and partisanship, the gesture of taking sides, are not only not mutually exclusive, but condition each other: in a concrete situation, its universal truth can only be articulated from a thoroughly partisan position—truth is by definition one-sided. —Slavoj Žižek, The Universal Exception 33835_SP_SCH_FM_00i-xiv.indd 6 10/26/12 12:29 PM Contents Acknowledgments ix Abbreviations xi 1. Barricades Are Back 1 2. Global Dissent: Tactical Trajectories 23 3. Understanding Interaction Tactically 41 4. Bodies That Matter: The Epistemology of Street Interactions 69 5. “Leave them no space!”: The Dialectics of Spatial Interactions 105 6. Psy(c)ops, Spin-Doctors, and the Communication of Dissent 141 7. “A revolt is a revolt is a revolt”: Violence, Law, and the Exception 175 8. Back to the Barricades? 203 Appendix 217 Notes 221 Bibliography 241 Index 265 33835_SP_SCH_FM_00i-xiv.indd 7 10/26/12 12:29 PM 33835_SP_SCH_FM_00i-xiv.indd 8 10/26/12 12:29 PM Acknowledgments Through my teaching at the Political Science Department of the University of Amsterdam in the past years, many inspiring students have shown me again that good teaching should not follow the “banking model,” but cre- ate a context for critical dialogue and engagement. It’s a shame that these activities and (sometimes slow) processes receive little care in current aca- demia. Besides inspiring students, I have met many dear colleagues at my department and especially hope to continue my collaboration with Annette Freyberg-Inan, Eelke Heemskerk, Marlies Glasius, Maruja Bobo Remijn, Marcel Maussen, Frances Gouda, Boris Slijper, and Chris Bickerton. From the first moment I met her, Saskia Poldervaart has remained an inspiration. Throughout my undergraduate and graduate years, she has been a source of instruction, motivation, and (productive) confusion. Her attempt to think politics (without the capital letter) from the perspective of social movements and daily life are hopefully reflected in this work. Jan Willem Duyvendak has been a rigorous supervisor and commenter of my work. He challenged me many times to push my initial analysis of summit protests further and elaborate on my critique of conventional approaches to social movements. I am also thankful to my former colleagues at the Amsterdam School for Social Science Research—Victor Toom, Jasper Blom, Malini Sur, Silke Heumann, Nazima Kadir, and Ana Miskovska Kajevska—for discussing, disputing, and sharing with me. Laurence Cox’s extensive comments as well as two anonymous reviews have been very helpful in turning my manuscript into a book. Thanks also here to the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Weten- schappelijk Onderzoek, who funded my research project for four years, and to Nancy Naples, Beth Bouloukos, and Diane Ganeles from State University of New York Press for their excellent cooperation. Transnational networks and weak ties have again been proven to work. My work has greatly benefited from the theoretical insights and critical eyes ix 33835_SP_SCH_FM_00i-xiv.indd 9 10/26/12 12:29 PM x Acknowledgments of Ron Eyerman, Michael Mann, Jeff Goodwin, Doug McAdam, Dieter Rucht, and Rosanne Rutten, who commented on my work in various phases. They all have enriched my conceptual thinking and my ability to relate my own findings to various theoretical discussions. Next to these incidental but intensive encounters, throughout the past years, I have enjoyed regular activist-intellectual contact. AK Thompson, Emma Dowling, Amory Starr, Luis Fernandez, Marianne Maeckelbergh, Matthias Monroy, and Tadzio Mueller have all helped me to shape these ideas through constant debate, reflection, and the reading of each other’s work. Susan Stocker has been the most impressive editor I can imagine. It is tempting to say that, if this is a good read at all, it’s her fault. Special thanks go to my family. Although my parents keep wondering where my activist engagement comes from, they should know better. They continue to be an inspiration as critics, pedagogues, and humans. And if anyone is responsible for me ever finishing this book, it is Joanna; her sup- port and good energy goes without comparison. Cooperation with activist groups has been pivotal for this research. I am especially indebted to the Gipfelsoli Infogruppe. Their extensive archive and expertise has been of great value. I will always remember the passion for historical detail of the group around Globalinfo, as well as the always friendly assistance of the Fort van Sjakoo bookshop in finding the weirdest book titles. Keep up the great work! Mentioning a few names surely does not really tell how indebted I am to all of you out there on the barricades. For all those not mentioned here, remember, identification means control . 33835_SP_SCH_FM_00i-xiv.indd 10 10/26/12 12:29 PM Abbreviations ASEM summit Asia Europe Meeting ATTAC Association pour la Taxation des Transactions financières pour l’Aide aux Citoyennes et citoyens (Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens) BAO Kavala Besondere Aufbauorganisation Kavala (special police department for the 2007 G8 in Germany) BND Bundesnachrichtendienst (foreign intelligence agency of Germany) CIRCA Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army CN gas Phenacyl chloride. Used as a crowd control agent. CS gas o-Chlorobenzylidene Malononitrile. Used as a crowd con- trol agent. DIGOS Divisione Investigazioni Generali e Operazioni Speciali (Italian Division of General Investigations and Special Operations) EGF European Gendarmerie Forces (EUROGENDFOR) EU European Union EU-SEC Coordinating National Research Programs on Security during Major Events EZLN Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (Zapatista Army of National Liberation) xi 33835_SP_SCH_FM_00i-xiv.indd 11 10/26/12 12:29 PM xii Abbreviations FBI US Federal Bureau of Investigation FTAA The Free Trade Area of the Americas G7 The Group of Seven (France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, Canada, and US) G8 The Group of Eight (G7 plus Russia) G20 The Group of Twenty (The world’s 20 largest national economies) GDP Gewerkschaft der Polizei (Trade Union of the Police in Germany) GDR German Democratic Republic GPS Global Positioning System IMF International Monetary Fund Indymedia Independent alternative media network INPEG Iniciativa Proti Ekonomické Globalisaci (Initiative Against Economic Globalization) IPO International Permanent Observatory on Security during Major Events J18 The London Global Carnival Against Capitalism (18 June 1999) to coincide with the 25th G8 Summit in Cologne, Germany MST Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (Landless Workers’ Movement) N30 Protests around the WTO Ministerial Conference in Se- attle, Washington (30 November 30 1999) NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NGO Nongovernmental organization OPEC Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries 33835_SP_SCH_FM_00i-xiv.indd 12 10/26/12 12:29 PM Abbreviations xiii PGA Peoples’ Global Action RAF Rote Armee Fraktion (Red Army Fraction) RTS Reclaim The Streets S26 Protests against the IMF/WB 55th Summit in Prague, Czech Republic (26 September 2000) SECON Security Conference SIM card Subscriber Identity Module card UK United Kingdom UN United Nations UNICRI United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute US United States WB World Bank WSF World Social Forum WTO World Trade Organization ZDF Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (German public TV station) 33835_SP_SCH_FM_00i-xiv.indd 13 10/26/12 12:29 PM 33835_SP_SCH_FM_00i-xiv.indd 14 10/26/12 12:29 PM 1 Barricades Are Back An event can be turned around, repressed, co-opted, betrayed, but there still is something there that cannot be outdated. Only renegades would say: it’s outdated. But even if the event is ancient, it can never be outdated: it is an opening to the possible. It goes as much inside individuals as in the depths of society.