Micael Björk: Between Frustration and Aggression - Legal Framing and the Policing of Public Disorder in Sweden and Denmark

Against the background of the European Union summits in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2001
and Copenhagen, Denmark in 2002, this article investigates the legal framing of police
public order practices in conjunction with mass demonstrations and rioting in urban
surroundings. Differences between legalistic and opportunistic ways of administering
laws and regulations are illustrated, focusing on the policing of political disorder in two
case studies with quite different outcomes. Theoretically, attention is also directed
towards the notion of crisis, in terms of frustration and aggression. The basic argument is
that the hyper-complexity of the legal framing in Sweden seems to have played an
important, but unintended, role in the violent handling of the serious riots in
Gothenburg; and that the legal powers in Denmark, in contrast, seems to have
contributed to the less aggressive handling of the protest events during the European
Union summit in Copenhagen.

Download full text: http://www.gipfelsoli.org/static/Media/Bjork_Public_Disorder_Sweden_Denmark.pdf