Punks versus police? The unexpectedly complex case of Belfast, Northern Ireland

• In Event: Critical Perspectives on Policing: Abolition and Alternatives

Abstract

The police traditionally functioned as militia-style protectors of the Northern Irish state since its creation in 1922, and, as such, attitudes to them normally align with an individual’s sectarian community identity – simplistically, ‘Protestants’ support (and join) the police, ‘Catholics’ don’t. But in the Belfast punk scene, anti-police attitudes cut across this sectarian divide, with a shared rhetoric of opposition and common experiences of being targeted for harassment as punks. However, as this paper discusses, the insidiousness of sectarianism wields influence even in this anti-police, anti-sectarian context.

Anarchist punks recognize brutality at the hands of the police as an expression of state repression. But, in running a series of anarchist punk social centers in Belfast (1986-2003 and 2010-2018), the Warzone Collective have had to think carefully about how to ‘self-police’ their own spaces, as well as occasionally making considered compromises with the police themselves. In the exceptional circumstances when scene participants decide to enlist with the police force, the result is ostracisation and trauma. This paper explores this complex and emotive terrain.

Author

• Jim Donaghey, Ulster University