Boundaries of Dissent, tackles the scalar transformations of the mass media age through the window of social protest. The author considers the effect the age of mediated spectacles has had on theoretical concepts of scale and publicity. Both concepts have undergone fundamental alterations in the postwar era. In turn, their transformations have radically altered the nature and reception of social protest.Main Description
Boundaries of Dissentlooks at the way that political protest, as it is shaped through the space-time collapsing power of media, questions national identity and state authority. Through this lens of protest politics, Bruce D'Arcus examines how public and private space is symbolically mediated-the way that power and dissent are articulated in the contemporary media. Along the way, he addresses broader questions about the relationships between contemporary power and identity, citizenship and marginality, and society and geographic space. Further, he sets forth ways to distinguish legitimate protest from illegitimate dissent. In order to accomplish this task, D'Arcus looks at four case studies: the violent protests at the 1968 Democratic convention; the 1973 occupation of the Wounded Knee reservation; the 1999 rescue and subsequent custody battle over Elián González; and the 1999 anti-globalization protests in Seattle and Québec City. D'Arcus argues for ways in which to usefully study thesecases, demonstrating the way that citizenship is socially constructed and how it is tied to concrete space.Review Quote
"Bruce D'Arcus examines "spectacles of dissent" to re-think how political spaces in the contemporary world are produced, contested and mediated. Crossing disciplinary boundaries, he demonstrates that sophisticated spatial analyses of protests, demonstrations, and riots reveal the political capacity of democratic citizenship and the challenges new media present both for state authorities and political dissidents. Lively, thoughtful, and optimistic, Boundaries of Dissent is a powerful, grounded work of cultural and political theory.." -David Farber Professor of History Temple University Author of Chicago '68 and Taken Hostage