Mapping Ferguson: Protest and Counter-Protest Spaces in Ferguson, Missouri

• In Event: 474 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 23. Race and Ethnicity

Abstract

After the shooting of Michael Brown Jr. on August 9th, 2014, dozens of protest groups gathered in the city of Ferguson, Missouri. They held marches, vigils, meetings, teach-ins, die-ins, and even a “Weekend of Resistance.” Concurrently, a number of counter-protest groups organized in Ferguson. They held rallies for the Ferguson mayor, city council, and police department; coordinated community beautification efforts; hosted community events; and fundraised for damaged local businesses. While protest groups called for change and reform, counter-protest groups called for a return to peace and calm. Since August 2014, the Ferguson protests and counter-protests have informed sociological scholarship across a wide range of social phenomena. While many scholars have acknowledged the contrasting rhetoric, tactics, and membership of the Ferguson protest and counter-protest groups, few have discussed the differential geographical situatedness of the two. The development and activity of protest and counter-protest groups in Ferguson has been remarkably spatialized. In this paper, I examine the creation of protest and counter-protest spaces in Ferguson, Missouri from August 9th, 2014 to August 9th, 2015. Specifically, I consider how (1) protest/counter-protest events and (2) protest/counter-protest symbols were spatially patterned in Ferguson. Drawing from ethnographic observations, newspaper articles, and photographs, I map where protest and counter-protest events took place in Ferguson and where protest/counter-protest symbols appeared in Ferguson’s public art. Using these maps, I evaluate the impact of spatial symbolic value, tactical choices of protesters/counter-protesters, tactical choices of police, and boundary perceptions of protesters/counter-protesters.

Author

• Jacqueline Henke, Purdue University