Reckoning with Ecologies of Violence in Campus (Counter)Protests

Universities have become a focal point for contestation over the meaning of free speech as well as sites of violent protests connected to white supremacist speakers and anti-racist, anti-fascist activism. This paper investigates incarnations of violence operating during the recent resurgence of white supremacist organizing and counter-protest on college campuses, focusing on the case of the white supremacist attacks at the University of Virginia (U.Va.) and Charlottesville during August 2017 that culminated in the vehicular manslaughter of Heather Heyer. Past research often conceptualizes collective violence through a non/violent binary. In contrast, we argue that a relational and ecological model of violences (pl.) in social movement activity provides a stronger analysis. Using historical methods, we investigate three entangled incarnations of violence that contribute to contemporary moments of social dis/order: the offensive violence of white supremacists, the passive institutional violence of the (white supremacist) University, and active defensive violence on the part of counter-protesters in opposition to white supremacy. In conclusion, we discuss implications for research on violence in movements and contemporary (anti-)racist organizing, arguing that sociologists need to embrace more complex understandings of how violences manifest to address concerns about public safety.