Introduction: On radicalism and the civil order

This book focuses on modes of political action usually condemned, not only by government, but also by organizations from churches and charities to voluntary associations and social movements, as well as in the press - and not without reason. The acts that interest us are intended to disrupt, confront, and subvert public order. Their protagonists are not afraid to offend or to damage property, reputations, or persons. Examples mentioned in the volume include hacktivism; road or highway blocking; occupying public buildings; inflammatory cartoons; graffiti; querying the Holocaust; suicide bombing; setting oneself alight; calling for revolution; engaging in violence, rioting, and looting; wearing hoods and refusing to remove them; leaking large amounts of sensitive data; organizing marches without giving notice; mooning in public; and hunger striking.