The British Journal of Sociology
Volume 50 No.4 December l999
pages 589-608
Abstract
The policing of protest at international events conflicts with the political and policing culture of the host nation. Previous research shows a trend toward softer, more tolerant styles of policing protest within various Western democracies. We present a case study of an exception: the repression of protest at an international event in which one Western democracy hosted rulers of less democratic regimes in a ritual celebration of economic globalization. We explore reasons why, in the face of protests about undemocratic regimes elsewhere, the Canadian government and police were willing to use blatantly undemocratic tactics popularly believed to be more characteristic of those other regimes. Implications are discussed concerning protest policing, economic globalization, the nation-state and social movements.
Keywords: Protest policing, economic globalization, nation-state, social movements, APEC
Richard Ericson
Faculty of Law and Department of Anthropology and Sociology
Green College
and
Aaron Doyle
Department of Anthropology and Sociology
University of British Columbia