Justice Ignited: The Dynamics of Backfire

by Brian Martin

Attacks can backfire on attackers_sometimes spectacularly. In March 1991, an observer videotaped several Los Angeles police beating Rodney King with their batons. Shown on television, the beating caused enormous damage to the reputation of the police and led to the chief's resignation. This incident and others, such as the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the 1965 surveillance of Ralph Nader, prove that all sorts of attacks can backfire, from torture and massacres to job dismissals and reprisals against whistle-blowers. Through numerous detailed case studies, Justice Ignited presents the first comprehensive treatment of the dynamics of backfire, as it reveals the most promising tactics for causing the backfire of unfair attacks. Understanding backfire_both promoting and inhibiting it_is vitally important for activists and everyone else who wants to be effective in the face of injustice.

244 pages, Paperback

First published December 28, 2006

About the author

Brian Martin is emeritus professor of social sciences at the University of Wollongong, Australia. He earned a BA in physics at Rice University in Texas in 1969, and, after emigrating to Australia he earned a PhD in physics at the University of Sydney in 1976.