“Whose streets? Our streets!”: Negotiations of Space and Violence in Protests

Abstract

Abstract This article suggests that focusing on situational, interactional space provides a fruitful addition to understanding protest dynamics and the emergence of violence in protests. It suggests connecting insights from social movement research and violence research to examine what happens spatially during a protest. Examining how space can be conceptualized situationally, the article then employs document and visual data, participant observation, and interviews in a qualitative analysis and cross-case comparison of protest marches. Situational space is studied in peaceful and violent marches during three social movements (Global Justice Movement, New Social Movements, 1960s student movement). Findings suggest that a clearly defined, transparent concept of situational space during protest marches can be useful in understanding the unfolding of protest events and that situational space is of particular relevance for the emergence of protest violence. Space is not only a common comfort zone, but for protests, territory also consists of implicit power relations. Thus, spatial incursions by police officers or protesters during protests into space assigned to the other group drastically change dynamics during protest marches, lead to mistrust and rising tensions, and form a crucial bedrock for violent eruptions.