Flashpoints Revisited: A Critical Application to the Policing of Anti-globalization Protest

Authors: King, Mike; Waddington, David

Source: Policing and Society, Volume 15, Number 3, September 2005 , pp. 255-282(28)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

The Flashpoints model, developed by David Waddington and colleagues in the late 1980s, has been utilized to examine various public order occurrences, ranging from urban rioting, industrial unrest and animal rights protests of the 1990s, primarily focusing on the United Kingdom, with some examples from the United States of America. This article revisits and reappraises the model in the light of critical debates both directed at the model itself and more generally concerning the policing of social protest. Specifically, we take on board relevant factors from these debates in order to enhance the model, before applying it to a comparative study of two cases of anti-globalization protest in Canada: one being post-Seattle, but pre-Genoa (the 2001 Quebec City Summit of the Americas); the other being post-Genoa and post 9/11 (the 2002 G8 protests in Ottawa).

Keywords: Flashpoints; Policing; Anti-globalisation protest; Watersheds; Public disorder; Canada

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10439460500168584

Publication date: 2005-09-01