Shawyer dissertation May 2008 final version - The University of ...

Chapter OneThe March on the Pentagon:Elements of a Networked Participatory Street Performance FormNo more marches. No more rallies. No more speeches. The dialogue is over, baby.Tolerance of rational dissent has become an insidious form of repression.The goal now is to disrupt an insane society. We’ve already applied for the permit.—Paul Krassner (How 306)In the clear autumn sun, the white stone buildings shine against the greenparkland of the Mall in Washington, D. C. From the towering obelisk of the WashingtonMonument to the many columns of the Lincoln Memorial and the still waters of thereflecting pool, the public parks west of the Capitol building gracefully evoke theinstitutional history of the United States. Just across the Potomac River, the rows of whitestone grave markers at Arlington National Cemetery solemnly honor veterans and the wardead. The Cemetery keeps watch over the nerve center of the Department of Defense justto the south, a monstrous five-sided concrete structure named the Pentagon. Here 27,000people direct the Cold War, planning and implementing the containment policy that seeksto prevent the further expansion of communism across the globe. Here at the Pentagonmilitary commanders organize the far-off war in South East Asia, pitting the might of oneof the world’s most powerful and technologically-advanced capitalist nations against adetermined communist foe. The civic monuments and carefully groomed parkland that48