| Current public order policing efforts seek to constitute activists as political subjects that can be categorized, ranked, and controlled in a fashion that undermines efforts to organize effective dissent. In this thesis I argue that these classification techniques target radical elements of social movements, pressuring other activists to distance themselves from these more 'dangerous' actors and practices. I analyze the experiences of activists with the Ottawa Police Service's (OPS) Major Event Liaison Team (MELT) both during the planning and the carrying out of protests. Using interview data from activists and the OPS, I offer an in-depth analysis of liaison policing strategies, surveillance, spatial control, and the conflation of protest and terrorism. Contrary to current scholarship that suggests public order policing has transitioned into a managerial and "soft-hat" approach, this thesis offers an empirically informed Marxian critique that instead finds that the policing of dissent is based on coercion, Americanization, and de-radicalization. |
