Bottom-Up Violence Work: Exploring the Case of Armed Racial Justice Counter-Protest
- UNCP Author/Contributor (non-UNCP co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Matthew J. Schneider, Assistant Professor (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP )
- Web Site: http://www.uncp.edu/academics/library
Abstract: This chapter makes sense of armed counter-protest by viewing it as a form of bottom-up, white supremacist “violence work.” Because many of these counter-protestors arm themselves and/or belongto private militias, this movement encroaches on the liberal state’s allocation of “violence work”—a form of labor characterized by its ability to forcefully or violently “maintain order”—to a specialized force of government agents (e.g., police and military). This “on the ground” activity is spurred by an interpretation of the historic function of the state, makes a demand that the state continue to serve thatfunction, and works outside the supposed boundaries set by the state to ensure the function is met. By arming themselves, training in techniques that closely resemble those employed by state violence workers, and making themselves especially visible during times of racial justice protest, these groups work to maintain American systems of white supremacy.
Bottom-Up Violence Work: Exploring the Case of Armed Racial Justice Counter-Protest
BOTTOM-UP-VIOLENCE-WORK_-EXPLORING-THE-CASE-OF-ARMED-RACIAL-JUSTICE-COUNT (Portable Document Format)