Author(s):
Christian Pape & Jonas Grutzpalk

Institution:
Fachhochschule für öffentliche Verwaltung NRW

Title:
The 1st of May Riots in Berlin-Kreuzberg - Effervescence in a carnival of violence?

Abstract:
Page 42-51

Since 1987 punctually every first of May Berlin-Kreuzberg witnesses more or less violent confrontations between police and protesters. With an eye on the context of heavy rioting in French and British cities in recent years, the article describes the actors of the German riots. It interprets the violence as a moment of effervescence of collective emotions and the regularity of the riots in Germany as a ritualistic carnival. Possible police measures are deducted from this interpretation.