Toward Riotous Strategy

Abstract

This essay is in conversation with Brian Martin, who wrote a response to an article I published about the importance of riots in movement uprisings. Martin questions some of my findings, reintroduces Gene Sharp’s theories of strategic nonviolence, and raises some further topics for consideration. I approach this as an opportunity to advance the discussion around strategic nonviolence and unarmed violence. Riots are significant moments of resistance, and our stories and strategy of struggle should reflect that reality. In both the title of his article and his conclusion, Martin asks— skeptically, I believe—if rioting can be the basis of movement strategy. In reply, I propose that our strategy must aspire to be riotous.