Shutting Down Protest

Policing, International Summitry, and the G20 Experiment in Brisbane

in Contention
Author:
Binoy Kampmark RMIT University bkampmark@gmail.com

Search for other papers by Binoy Kampmark in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Close
Restricted access

Abstract

This article considers social control mechanisms that targeted public protest at a particular summit, the Brisbane G20, first by examining the management of previous gatherings (Miami and Toronto), and then by looking at the more specific, nuanced techniques deployed in Brisbane in 2014. Despite its violence, the Toronto G20 added a few legal and policing innovations, including designated free speech zones, controlled areas of movement, and, albeit unsuccessfully, the extensive use of public relations. The lessons of Toronto were directly incorporated into the security architecture of Brisbane’s policing and social control effort. Brisbane witnessed one of the more successful efforts at limiting and arguably shutting down social protest in its entirety. Protest narratives were fastidiously managed and shaped by the Queensland Police Service and affiliated agencies. As a response, alternative protest techniques, including counter-summits, were ostensibly fashioned to circumvent such a restrictive security architecture, but were marginalized in doing so.

Contributor Notes

Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He is currently a senior lecturer in law and politics in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, and a contributing editor of CounterPunch. E-mail: bkampmark@gmail.com

  • Collapse
  • Expand

Contention

The Multidisciplinary Journal of Social Protest

  • Adams, Shar. 2014. “Police Community Liaison Appreciated during G20.” Epoch Times, 18 November. https://www.theepochtimes.com/police-community-liaison-appreciated-during-g20_1087949.html.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Baker, David. 2014. “G20 Lockdown: The Challenge of Balancing Freedom and Security.” Conversation, 11 November. http://theconversation.com/g20-lockdown-the-challenge-of-balancing-freedom-and-security-32698.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Barnett, Ross. 2014. “G20 Update, Day One of the Leader’s Summit.” MyPolice G20, 15 November. https://mypolice.qld.gov.au/g20/2014/11/15/g20-update-day-one-leaders-summit.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Bayne, Nicholas, and Robert D. Putnam. 1995. “The G-7 Summit Comes of Age.” In The Halifax G-7 Summit: Issues on the Table, ed. Sylvia Ostry and Gilbert R. Winham, 1-20. Halifax: Centre for Foreign Policy Studies, Dalhousie University.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Bigo, Didier. 2001. “The Mobius Ribbon of Internal and External Insecurity(ies).” In Identities, Borders, Orders: Rethinking International Relations Theory, ed. Mathias Albert, David Jacobson, and Yosef Lapid, 91116. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Bochenski, Natalie. 2014. “Weather Takes Heat Out of G20 Protesters.” Brisbane Times, 16 November. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/weather-takes-heat-out-of-g20-protests-20141116-11nukt.html.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Buck-Morss, Susan. 2004. “Political Culture and the Culture of Images.” In Under Fire 1: The Disorganization and Representation of Violence, ed. Jordan Crandall, 6061. Rotterdam: Witte De Witte.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • BrisCAN-G20. 2014a. “Visioning Another World: The G20 Peoples’ Summit.” Media release, 14 November. http://briscan.net.au/2014/11/14/visioning-another-world/.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • BrisCAN-G20. 2014b. “Visioning Another World: The G20 Peoples’ Summit.” Event program, 12–14 November. http://briscan.net.au/program.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Buckner, H. Taylor. (1967) 2004. “The Police: The Culture of a Social Control Agency.” PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley. http://www.tbuckner.com/The%20Police.htm#_Toc79564222.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Carlyle, Thomas. 1841. Heroes: Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History. New York: Scribners.

  • Clarke, Harry. 2014. “G20 Police Dance the Nutbush to Keep the Peace.” Courier Mail, 17 November. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/g20-police-dance-the-nutbush-to-keep-the-peace/news-story/a0054d3ab0e61c7dbaf45b3f47b52d42.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Cooper, Andrew F. 2010. “The G20 as an Improvised Crisis Committee and/ or a Contested ‘Steering Committee’ for the World.” International Affairs 86 (3): 741757.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Costello, Peter. 2012. “G20 Summit Helps Seal Queensland’s Place in Political Sun.” Sydney Morning Herald, 18 July. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/g20-summit-helps-seal-queenslands-place-in-political-sun-20120717-2289t.html.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Courier Mail. 2014. “G20 in Brisbane: Breaking News, Social Media, Maps and Events.” 15 November. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/g20-in-brisbane-breaking-news-social-media-maps-and-events/news-story/904afdcda7723826b839795251e07a15.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Des Rosiers, Nathalie. 2015. “The Future of Protests in Canada.” In Putting the State on Trial: The Policing of Protest during the G20 Summit, ed. Margaret E. Beare, Nathalie Des Rosiers, and Abigail C. Deshman, 319325. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Doorley, Neil. 2014a. “G20 to Turn Inner Brisbane into Red Zone.” Courier Mail, 12 July. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/g20-to-turn-inner-brisbane-into-red-zone/news-story/74f630ac8aec446009d6cc9c1af0f6a8.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Doorley, Neil. 2014b. “Red Zone Activated for Brisbane G20 Summit with 70 Items Banned.” Courier Mail, 7 November. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/red-zone-activated-for-brisbane-g20-summit-with-70-items-banned/news-story/f555a90431a7794f81dbb0fce490e9cd.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Dowling, Jason. 2012. “We Didn’t Want G20 Anyway, Doyle Says.” Age, 11 July. http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/we-didnt-want-g20-anyway-doyle-says-20120711-21vii.html.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Dowling, Jason, and Josh Gordon. 2012. “G20, We Don’t Want It: Doyle.” Sydney Morning Herald, 12 July. http://www.smh.com.au/national/g20-we-dont-want-it-doyle-20120711-21we7.html.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Dubinsky, Zach, and Dave Seglins. 2012. “G20 ‘Kettling’ Commander among 45 Officers to Be Charged.” CBC News, 18 May. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/g20-kettling-commander-among-45-officers-to-be-charged-1.1202465.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Foucault, Michel. 1991. “Governmentality.” In The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality, ed. Graham Burchell, Colin Gordon, and Peter Miller, 87104. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Gillham, Patrick F. 2011. “Securitizing America: Strategic Incapacitation and the Policing of Protest since the 11 September 2001 Terrorist Attacks.” Sociology Compass 5 (7): 636652.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Gillham, Patrick F., and John A. Noakes. 2007. “‘More than a March in a Circle’: Transgressive Protests and the Limits of Negotiated Management Mobilization.” Mobilization 12 (4): 341357.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Gorringe, Hugo, and Michael Rosie. 2013. “‘We Will Facilitate Your Protest’: Experiments with Liaison Policing.” Policing 7 (2): 204211.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Graham, Stephen. 2011. Cities under Siege: The New Military Urbanism. London: Verso.

  • Greens. 2014. “Greens Speak Out against Newman’s G20 Crackdown.” Press release, 14 July. http://greens.org.au/node/5444.

  • Herman, Edward. 2000. “The Propaganda Model: A Retrospective.” Journalism Studies 1 (1): 101112.

  • Herman, Edward, and Noam Chomsky. 1988. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. New York: Pantheon.

  • Janowitz, Morris. 1975. “Sociological Theory and Control.” American Journal of Sociology 81 (1): 82108.

  • Jones, Trevor, and Tim Newburn. 1993. Private Security and Public Policing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Keane, John. 2006. “What’s Happening to Democracy?Sydney Ideas lecture, University of Sydney, 24 July.

  • Kitchen, Veronica, and Kim Rygiel. 2014. “Privatizing Security, Securitizing Policing: The Case of the G20 in Toronto.” International Political Sociology 8 (2): 201217.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Klaehn, Jeffery. 2005. Filtering the News: Essays on Herman and Chomsky’s Propaganda Model. New York: Black Rose Books.

  • Korzeniewicz, Roberto Patricio, and William C. Smith. 2001. “Protest and Collaboration: Transnational Civil Society Networks and the Politics of Summitry and Free Trade in the Americas.” Paper presented at the 23rd International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Washington, DC, 6–8 September. http://lasa.international.pitt.edu/Lasa2001/KorzeniewiczRobertoPatricio.pdf.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Labog, Elmer. 2014. “Labour Movements.” BrisCAN-20, 13 November. http://briscan.net.au/2014/11/13/labour-movements.

  • Leander, Anna. 2005. “The Market for Force and Public Security: The Destabilizing Consequences of Private Military Companies.” Journal of Peace Research 42 (5): 605622.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • McNeilly, Gerry. 2012. Policing the Right to Protest: G20 Systemic Review Report. Toronto: Office of the Independent Police Review Director. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/356739-g20-report-eng.html.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • McPhail, Clark, David Schweingruber, and John McCarthy. 1998. “Policing Protest in the United States: 1960–1995.” In Policing Protest, ed. Donatella Della Porta and Herbert Reiter, 4969. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Melbourne School of Government. 2014. “G20 Australia: Behind the Scenes.” G20 Watch, 16 November. http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/148927/20141208-1040/g20watch.edu.au/g20-australia-behind-scenes.html.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Moore, Tony. 2014. “Police Ban Violent Protester from G20.” Brisbane Times, 14 November. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/police-ban-violent-protester-from-g20-20141114-11mxmh.html.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Morlon-Druol, Emmanuel. 2014. International Summitry and Global Governance: The Rise of the G7 and the European Council, 1974–1991. New York: Routledge.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Noakes, John A., and Patrick F. Gillham. 2006. “Aspects of the New Penology in the Policing of Global Justice Protests in the United States.” In The Policing of Transnational Protest, ed. Donatella Della Porta, Abby Peterson, and Herbert Reiter, 97116. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Parsons, Talcott. 1960. Structure and Process in Modern Societies. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.

  • Pue, W. Wesley, and Robert Diab. 2010. “The Gap in Canadian Police Powers: Canada Needs ‘Public Order Policing’ Legislation.” Windsor Review of Legal and Social Issues 28 (1): 87103.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • QPS (Queensland Police Service). 2014a. G20 Leaders’ Summit 2014: Information for Brisbane Residents and Visitors. Information booklet. http://hbcm.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/G20_Brisbane_DL-brochure_LowRes.pdf.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • QPS (Queensland Police Service). 2014b. “QPS Help to Facilitate Peaceful Protest.” MyPolice G20, 21 September. https://mypolice.qld.gov.au/g20/2014/09/21/qps-help-facilitate-peaceful-protest.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Redekop, Vern Neufeld, and Shirley Paré. 2010. Beyond Control: A Mutual Respect Approach to Protest Crowd–Police Relations. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Rule, James, Douglas McAdam, Linda Stearns, and David Uglow. 1980. The Politics of Privacy: Planning for Personal Data Systems as Powerful Technologies. New York: Elsevier.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Saul, John Ralston. 1997. The Unconscious Civilization. Ringwood, AU: Penguin.

  • Scahill, Jeremy. 2003. “The Miami Model.” Information Clearing House. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5286.htm. Originally published in CounterPunch, 24 November.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Sen, Amartya. 1999. “Democracy as a Universal Value.” Journal of Democracy 10 (3): 317.

  • Silva, Kristian. 2014. “G20 Brisbane: US Secret Service Praises Queensland Police for Security.” Brisbane Times, 16 November. https://www.brisbane-times.com.au/national/queensland/g20-brisbane-us-secret-service-praises-queensland-police-for-security-20141116-11no74.html.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Starr, Amory, Luis Fernandez, and Christian Scholl. 2011. Shutting Down the Streets: Political Violence and Social Control in the Global Era. New York: New York University Press.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Stuff, Chris, and Winner Jeanne. 2012. ‘“Repression Connection I’: The Short Run.” Dollars and Sense 301 (September/October). http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2012/0912toc.html.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Taylor, John. 2014. “Qld Sets a New International Standard for G20 Policing.” 7.30 Queensland, 21 November. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-21/qld-sets-a-new-international-standard-for-g20/5911050.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Vincent, George. 1896. “The Province of Sociology.” American Journal of Sociology 1 (4): 473491.

  • Waddington, P. A. J. 1999. Policing Citizens: Authority and Rights. London: University College London Press.

  • Williams, Clive. 2014. “Black Rose Shapes as Blooming Problem for Brisbane G20.” Sydney Morning Herald, 20 January. http://www.smh.com.au/comment/black-rose-shapes-as-blooming-problem-for-brisbane-g20-20140119-312hw.html.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Wilson, John. 1977. “Social Protest and Social Control.” Social Problems 24 (4): 469481.

  • Witt, Matthew T., and Lance deHaven-Smith. 2008. “Conjuring the Holographic State: Scripting Security Doctrine for a (New) World of Disorder.” Administration and Society 40 (6): 547585.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

Metrics

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 1586 547 24
Full Text Views 83 3 0
PDF Downloads 26 3 0