Relational dynamics of protest and protest policing: strategic interaction and the coevolution of targeting strategies

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article investigates the relational dynamics of lawful and unlawful protest in the wake of the British Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) campaign, and the plural policing efforts by public and private actors it triggered. The aim is to explain the coevolution of the targeting strategies employed by campaigners and their adversaries, particularly criminal justice agencies and corporate actors. Delimited to the life span of SHAC (1999–2014), the analysis tracks four forms of strategic shifts on the part of protestors and their adversaries – a series of strategic adaptations, innovation, cooperation and compliance, throughout five distinct phases of the conflict. The findings reveal how key players refine their targeting strategies throughout an interactive process, in which strategies are developed in tandem in the course of the battle. The paper demonstrates how research on strategic interaction can benefit from expanding the focus to include manifestations of strategy during cycles of stakeholder interaction, to fill the gaps left by concentrating on strategic decision-making exclusively. As the findings demonstrate, the ways in which strategies actually unfold and develop frequently deviate from the decision-making, and often involves unforeseen impacts and outcomes.