Séminaire ATHIP - Katrina Navickas

Katrina Navickas introduces her talk:

"This paper draws on some of the main themes of my next book, Contested Commons: Protest and Public Space in England. It examines the history of protest in England through the framework of the commons, enclosure, and public space. Protest is about claiming public space. From the 19th century onwards, public space became delineated in specific categories as a process of municipal improvement: the square, the public park, the pavement, the recreation ground, local and national monuments. These sites were subjected to an ever-increasing list of regulations and legislation about what activities were allowed, and moreover, who was allowed in the spaces. In effect, public spaces were enclosed. Protest was therefore a form of communing and un-enclosing, an act of reclaiming public space for use by the public. It often challenged the hegemony of social elites over the uses and ownership of such spaces. Protesters claimed the ‘right to roam’ not just on enclosed commons and private estates, but also on the streets and squares in marches and mass meetings. This paper examines some of the key incidents of protest in the light of these themes: the contests over Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park in London, and over street spaces in Manchester and other towns. It charts the development of the policing of protest and public order legislation from 1795 to 1994."