Rioting across France has made the news over the last week, sparked by the killing of Nahel Merzouk, a teenager of Algerian descent, by a police officer. Nahel was shot in the chest during a traffic stop in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris, on 27th of June. The officer involved has been charged with voluntary homicide, but that has not calmed the rioting that has erupted in cities across France. Also last week, a BBC documentary named a sixth suspect in the racially-motivated murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence in London in 1993, leading to calls for further investigations into institutional racism in the Metropolitan Police. The combination of these two stories prompted me to take a look at anti-police political stickers in Edinburgh. The Police are not the most common topic of protest stickers, but whilst other topics come and go, this one does remain fairly constant (I have written two blog posts about anti-police stickers in London, here and here).
A lot of stickers criticising the polica use this acronym, which stands for ‘All Cops are Bastards’. This ties into the argument that the violence and discrimination committed by police officers, particularly against minority groups, is not the result of a few ‘bad apples’, but is actually a feature of the policing system (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 28/11/2021).A more complex design that also incoporates the ACAB acronym (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 28/11/2021).Stickers like this one play with the acronym, suggesting it stands for other things, but the anti-police meaning is always there (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 06/10/2022).This sticker also builds on the ACAB acronym by changing it to make it even less forgiving (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 05/02/2023).This sticker has a rather more elaborate design, but the message is just as clear (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 31/08/2020).The text on this sticker is in German and translates as ‘No friend, no helper.’ Police officers sometimes use seemingly innocent friendly conversations to gater intelligence, particularly during protests, so activists engage with them as little as possible (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 27/03/2021).This sticker conveys the same message, although I’m not sure what the relevance of the shark-human hybrid is! (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 28/09/2022).A simple design, but it gets the message across. This sticker was produced by Dog Section Press, an anti-profit radical publisher (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 28/09/2022). This sticker also calls for the abolition of police, describing them as the ‘biggest gang in town’ (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 17/02/2022).This sticker plays with the common association of police officers and pigs. Describing police as pigs goes back to the 1870s. (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 28/11/2022).This sticker includes a more specific criticism of the UK police, and mimics the style of material produced by the British governmment (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 16/05/2021). Blue Lives Matter was a slogan that appeared in response to the Black Lives Matter campaign, arguing that police officers have a right to use violence to defend themselves. This sticker subverts that slogan in turn, and also incorporates the ACAB acronym (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 26/10/2021)
The Akerhus Fortress in central Oslo dates back to the 13th century. It has been a castle, a fortress, a prison, and is now home to several museums and the mausoleum of the Norwegian Royal family (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 11/08/2022).
The next stop on my Scandinavian adventure in the summer of 2022 was Oslo, the capital of Norway. Founded in around 1000 A.D., the city is now the political and economic centre of Norway, as well as one of the most expensive cities in the world. Turns out that it is also very good for political stickers!
Stickers and posters like this one were made and put up in Norwegian ports in the summer of 2022 by a group called CruiseNOTWelcome, which aims to raise awareness of the social and environmental impacts of large cruise ships. There were several huge cruise ships in Oslo whilst I was there, and I can see why some locals aren’t keen on them. Apart from anything else, the vast ships block the view of the Oslo Fjord, and the city centre was much busier when the cruise ships were docked (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 10/08/2022).This sticker plays with the imagery of the Godfather. The text translates to “Make The Alliance an offer they can’t refuse.” The Alliance – Alternative for Norway is a Norwegian neo-Nazi political party (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 10/08/2022).I really like the design of this sticker. The 1st of May, or May Day, is used around the world to commemorate the victories of workers and the labour movement. The text translates to “work under capitalism is coercion, fight for socialism!” The sticker is produced by Rød Ungdom, or Red Youth, the youth group of the Red Party. It’s 3 main principles are revolutionary socialism, feminism, and communism (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 10/08/2022)The Karlsøy Festival is a co-creative and participatory festival which takes place annually on an island in northern Norway (10/08/2022). Kvinnefronten, or the Women’s Front, is Norway’s oldest radical women’s organisation. This sticker is playing with the format of a Who Wants to be a Millionaire question, and translates as: “whose choice? the Church; the State; the tribunal [courts?]; the woman. Abortion is women’s choice; remove the courts!” Of course, “the woman” is highlighted as the correct answer (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 10/08/2022).Sea Punks is a German voluntary organisation that helps refugees in Europe. They are raising money to fund a ship to rescue refugees trying to reach Euope via the Mediterranean Sea (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 10/08/2022).This sticker is declaring the place that it is stuck in an “anti-racist neighbourhood” (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 10/08/2022).This sticker translates too “The whole world hates Nazis.” If only that were true! (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 10/08/2022).This sticker is advertising an anti-Nazi protest in Fredrikstad, another city in Norway, in July 2017, which pretty much makes it an antique by sticker standards! (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 11/08/2022).This sticker is in Polish and translates to “Anti-homophobic Action.” It is not unusual for activists and campaigners to take stickers with them when they travel, or this could be a Polish activist living in Oslo. Frustrating as it often is, I can only guess at the stories and circumstances of most people who put up stickers (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 11/08/2022).
Be Gay Do Crime is a slogan used by LGBTQI+ activists that has increased in popularity over the last few years. The image of a skeleton carrying a sign with the slogan on is also quite common, although I haven’t been able to figure out why (Photo: Hannah Awcock, 10/08/2022).
Turbulent Isles 