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"We were not playing games": Transnational moral policing in 1970s Vancouver

Thesis type
(Thesis) M.A.
Date created
2021-08-16
Authors/Contributors
Abstract
At the conclusion of the Gastown Riot in August 1971, Vancouver Police Inspector Robert Abercrombie declared the evening "a good night's work." Using riot sticks and horse hooves, Vancouver Police violently dispersed a protest against marijuana laws in Gastown's Maple Tree Square. The Gastown Riot, and the year of protests leading up to it, demonstrate a transnational relationship between police and protestors. City officials and constabulary organizations worked to preserve their vision of moral order during the 1960s and 1970s, buttressed by the slogan "law and order." This thesis uses a comparative approach to analyze the contexts in which North American police organizations violently responded to protest under the pretence of protecting morality and law and order. Contributing to the historiography of Canadian policing, this study adds to the growing scholarship that illustrates the similar violent histories of Canada and the United States.
Document
Identifier
etd21557
Copyright statement
Copyright is held by the author(s).
Permissions
This thesis may be printed or downloaded for non-commercial research and scholarly purposes.
Supervisor or Senior Supervisor
Thesis advisor: Taylor, Joseph
Language
English
Member of collection
Download file Size
input_data\22259\etd21557.pdf 480.01 KB

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