Here's an argument for anti-globalization violence that I'm not entirely sure I agree with. Anti-globalization protesters need to walk a fine line between attracting attention to their cause and creating animosity towards their cause by engaging in actions that may be perceived as "antisocial" by the public at large. Recently, there have been protests ongoing in Halifax, Canada over the creation of a so-called Atlantica free trade zone which is to include parts of the Atlantic Northeast in Canada and the US. As with the G-8 riots in Germany, mayhem too broke out as more, shall we say, demonstrative protesters engaged riot police in yet another free-for-all. According to these protesters, they had little choice but to engage in violent act as that's what attracts media attention:Organizers of an anti-free-trade protest in Halifax were blaming the media Saturday for a large part the violence that erupted a day earlier, saying the only way to get their message across was to produce images news outlets would "salivate" over.Protests against an enhanced trading zone known as Atlantica turned violent on Friday when a group of roughly 50 protesters, dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, broke away from a larger group of peaceful protesters.
The group of self-described anarchists marched into a commercial district of downtown Halifax throwing paint-filled light bulbs, firecrackers and rocks at police, business and journalists.
Police used pepper spray and electric stun guns to try and subdue the protesters.
That scene, said protest organizer Pierre Blais, was exactly what reporters were looking for.
"Violent or so-called violent disruptive protest and property damage does attract media a lot more than marches or just the Atlantica deal itself," Blais, a member of the Anti-Capitalist Coalition, told a news conference.
Blais said the other reason protesters resorted to "confrontational tactics" was "the legitimate rage they feel at the violent poverty that they are feeling everyday."
The protest was in reaction to a conference focusing on Atlantica, a proposed trade zone between eastern Quebec, Atlantic Canada and parts of the northeastern United States.
By the end of the clash, the police had arrested 21 people and laid more than 70 charges, including unlawful assembly, assault to police, mischief and weapons related offence. The police had earlier said 20 people were arrested...
Another organizer, David Bush of the Alliance Against Atlantica, said the group also tried to raise awareness through other measures, such as teach-ins, flyers and petitions.
He said those had a limited effect, and Friday's violent protest was a success because it gained media attention.
"We did demonstrate that (Atlantica's) policies - rolling back environmental regulations, increasing shipping here, implementing policy distress factors such as lowering minimum wage - would engender the kind of response that we saw yesterday."
To me, it begs the question, "On the balance, do these attention-grabbing acts create more positive than negative attention to the issues at hand?" Certainly, there is the possibility that the protesters themselves become more the subject of attention than whatever free trade pact they're trying to undermine. The protesters in question think that the violence is worth it:
Just when you thought anti-globalization protests were a relic of the past, they have erupted yet again. To what end we shall see. More pictures are available from Infoshop News."We're pretty excited about what happened," said organizer Pierre Blais of the Anti-Capitalist Coalition. "We think it was a huge success, especially judging from the international media coverage it got."
Mr. Blais said the media didn't care about "working people" or the tamer protests, but claimed reporters "salivated" over black-clad protesters breaking windows.
"The media loves concentrating on acts of destruction. It's a shame the 400 people protesting did not get covered as much the Black Bloc did," Mr. Blais said, referring to a group of masked, black-clad protesters.
He called the "rage" on the streets a legitimate answer to the everyday violence of poverty and environmental damage.
