Tactic used by police, in which protests are smashed by police coercing protesters into a small space and then keeping them there by surrounding them and attacking anyone who tries to break out or asks to leave. Normally combined with verbal abuse and periodic baton charges against the protesters. It is basically a form of inhumane and extrajudicial imprisonment.
Those held in pigpens often include not only protesters of all descriptions (and not only the ones cops claim to be targeting), and also anyone else who's on the scene, e.g. tourists, journalists, shoppers, local residents.
The tactic has been used fairly regularly by British police against anti-capitalist protesters at events such as Mayday, Disarm DSEi and also at animal rights protests (all of which rely on small numbers of mobile people in small groups to cause disruption).
Referred to as "corralling" in pig-speak; pigpen is the usual term used by protesters. I've also heard it referred to as a kettle, because it's identical to the tactic by this name which was used by the Russian army in Stalingrad.
Those held in pigpens often include not only protesters of all descriptions (and not only the ones cops claim to be targeting), and also anyone else who's on the scene, e.g. tourists, journalists, shoppers, local residents.
The tactic has been used fairly regularly by British police against anti-capitalist protesters at events such as Mayday, Disarm DSEi and also at animal rights protests (all of which rely on small numbers of mobile people in small groups to cause disruption).
Referred to as "corralling" in pig-speak; pigpen is the usual term used by protesters. I've also heard it referred to as a kettle, because it's identical to the tactic by this name which was used by the Russian army in Stalingrad.
On Mayday 2001, protesters and assorted others were kept in a pigpen for over 8 hours (with the exception of a large contingent who, led by the White Overall contingent, the Wombles, managed to break out). There were no toilets, no proper medical facilities and it was pouring with rain, and cops made periodic attacks on the crowd, forcing people closer together. There was a real danger of a Hillsborough-style crush, although the real purpose of the attacks seems to be to get "riot" footage to put on the news, so as to make excuses for the cop violence.
Those oppressed by the pigs in this way included also a large number of shoppers on Oxford Street, workers who were returning home, and even two German tourists who cops wouldn't let leave even when they showed their plane tickets - they missed their flight as a result.
Those oppressed by the pigs in this way included also a large number of shoppers on Oxford Street, workers who were returning home, and even two German tourists who cops wouldn't let leave even when they showed their plane tickets - they missed their flight as a result.
by annoyed anarchist May 01, 2004
Get the pigpen mug.Did you know that, by posting this definition on urbandictionary.com, I am breaking Britain's absurd anti-terrorism laws by creating a document which bears the name of a terrorist group? Also that you the reader, and the owners of the website, are also breaking it?
What a load of crap, eh? Let's smash the state!
What a load of crap, eh? Let's smash the state!
It actually refers to a now-defunct Kurdish Marxist guerrilla group fighting for independence from Turkey.
by annoyed anarchist April 27, 2004
Get the PKK mug.Why should I give a fuck? The bosses run the country anyway.
It really means "your government needs you" (to do its dirty work for it, usually by killing foreigners). It's because government can't survive without mass obedience that we should tell it to fuck off whenever it "needs" us. Down with the government!
It really means "your government needs you" (to do its dirty work for it, usually by killing foreigners). It's because government can't survive without mass obedience that we should tell it to fuck off whenever it "needs" us. Down with the government!
When I need my "country", it's never there for me, so why should it expect me to be there for it in return?
by annoyed anarchist May 02, 2004
Get the your country needs you mug.Concentration camp for children. Set up to teach people to become docile and obedient subjects of capitalism and the state. This is achieved through mind-numbing, attacks on individual identity, and various degrees of disguised terror, usually (but not always) concealed by a double-bind.
Often combined with indoctrination into dominant ideas and training in skills useful to bosses.
Often combined with indoctrination into dominant ideas and training in skills useful to bosses.
by annoyed anarchist May 02, 2004
Get the school mug.Electronic table of contents of the British Library. This is the website to visit if you want to find out all the journal articles which have been published on a particular subject since the late 90s. The only problem is, you need an Athens username and password to get in. But if you can get on a university campus and use a computer there, it should be OK.
Problem: you put in an author's name, and get 1652 references - only then do you realise that there's 150 authors with the same obscure name. It would help if you could search by topic.
Problem: you put in an author's name, and get 1652 references - only then do you realise that there's 150 authors with the same obscure name. It would help if you could search by topic.
The address is zetoc.mimas.ac.uk or something like that.
by annoyed anarchist May 01, 2004
Get the zetoc mug.Police denied that the death in custody was a result of police brutality, saying they restrained the suspect using reasonable force.
by annoyed anarchist May 01, 2004
Get the reasonable force mug.November 30th, 2000, and the protests which took place on that day.
This was the biggest and best day of protests at the Seattle WTO summit (aka "Battle of Seattle" and, in media-whorespeak, "Seattle Riots"). There were also protests elsewhere on that day - e.g. at Euston Station in London (the first recorded use of the pigpen tactic against anti-capitalists, as cops tried to pen everyone into the station). Not very well-organised this time. A cop van got torched and this became an iconic image.
This was the biggest and best day of protests at the Seattle WTO summit (aka "Battle of Seattle" and, in media-whorespeak, "Seattle Riots"). There were also protests elsewhere on that day - e.g. at Euston Station in London (the first recorded use of the pigpen tactic against anti-capitalists, as cops tried to pen everyone into the station). Not very well-organised this time. A cop van got torched and this became an iconic image.
by annoyed anarchist May 01, 2004
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