Tag Archives: Policing

Engaging Power [4]: Diffusion

Posted on August 2, 2018 by julianstodd

How do we fight, how do we conquer? In oppositional models of power, we deploy overwhelming force, to disrupt the structure. The sledgehammer solution. But when the structures of violence are held within coherent social units, the sledgehammer reinforces them. … Continue reading →

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Engaging Power [3]: Loci

Posted on August 1, 2018 by julianstodd

There is always a locus of engagement, a point where we are anchored. Multiple points maybe, for different contexts of our lives, but some place, or thing, that acts as the tether. If you are at school, the loci may … Continue reading →

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Engaging Power [2]: Gangs

Posted on July 31, 2018 by julianstodd

What is a gang? A social structure, certainly, with defined membership, and rituals surrounding that. A structure with hierarchy, either formally defined, or discovered through experience, either fixed, or fluid. Territorial: a gang is associated with a subset of geography, … Continue reading →

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Engaging Power [1]: Conflict

Posted on July 30, 2018 by julianstodd

To think that gangs are an aberration, or impermanent structure, is a mistake: they are stable social structures, governed by the same bonding mechanisms as the local church, or regional police force. They are structures of power, partly formalised, partly … Continue reading →

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