Black Bloc, White Riot Anti-Globalization and the Genealogy of Dissent

"A manifesto for individuals who seek to destroy those structurally imposed identities that limit people's full expression of their genuine needs."—George Katsiaficas, author of Subversion of Politics

With a title that's a modern-day mash-up of Frantz Fanon and The Clash, Black Bloc, White Riot revisits the struggles against globalization that marked the beginning of the twenty-first century and explores the connection between political violence and the white middle class.

Beginning with an account of the political trajectory of the white middle class through the first half of the twentieth century, AK Thompson argues that the anti-globalization movement constituted an attempt by white middle class activists to reconnect with political-and, hence, human-being.

Drawing on movement literature, contemporary and critical theory, and practical investigations, Thompson outlines the movement's effects on the white middle class kids who were swept up in it and considers how and why violence must once again become a central category of activist politics.