Editing Tactical frivolity (section)

==In international anti-capitalist protests==
[[File:TacticalFloat2011London.jpg|thumb|A tactical frivolity float, surrounded by protestors at the [[2011 London anti-cuts protest]]]]
Large scale [[Anti-globalization movement|International anti-capitalist protests]] are widely seen as dawning between 1998 and 2000 with events such as the protests at the [[24th G8 summit|Birmingham 1998 G8]], ''J18'', the [[World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity|Seattle 1999 WTO protests]] and the [[Anti-globalization Protests in Prague|Prague 2000 IMF protests]].<ref name="ACBrit"/><ref name = "hostage">
{{cite book
|author =  Desmond Tutu and Theodore H. MacDonald
|title= Third world health: hostage to first world health
|year=2005
|pages = 12, 111
|isbn=1-85775-769-6
|publisher=  Radcliffe Publishing Ltd
}}</ref>

The 1999 [[Seattle]] demonstrations saw extensive violent clashes with the police. For the 2000 protest in [[Prague]], demonstrators divided themselves into three broad groupings based in part on the way they wished to engage with the authorities. There was a  "Yellow march" for traditional non violent protest,  a "Blue march" for those who were up for physically taking on the police,  and a "Silver and Pink" group which is described as employing "tactical frivolity",<ref name = "hostage"/> this group being the most successful in terms of penetrating the security cordon around the IMF meeting.<ref name = "Emancipatory"/> Attending Prague was also a small group specifically calling itself "Tactical Frivolity", which consisted of a Samba band plus thirteen women from [[Yorkshire]] dressed as pink fairies.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2000/sep/23/imf.economics |title=Carnivalistas slink in with a pink revolution |date=September 23, 2000 |first=John |last=Vidal |access-date=September 6, 2009 | location=London | work=The Guardian}}</ref>

Ten months later, a group of protesters dressed in carnival outfits and again calling themselves the Pink and Silver bloc, or ''Pink Fairies'', used the term "tactical frivolity" to describe their own methods when protesting at the [[27th G8 summit]] in [[Genoa]]. These included waving "magic fairy wands" at the police and training "radical cheerleaders," as well as the deployment of a "revolutionary spaghetti catapult"  designed to "splatter the leaders with pasta". The device failed to hit any leaders with spaghetti, but, according to journalist [[Johann Hari]], the ''Pink Fairies'' did succeed in causing mass laughter among the crowds.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/200107300008 |title=The failure that led to Carlo's death |first=Johann |last=Hari |date=July 30, 2001 |journal=[[New Statesman]] |access-date=September 6, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Avoiding the road to chaos |date=March 6, 2005 |first=Robert |last=Rae |url=http://news.scotsman.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=2613339  |access-date=September 6, 2009 |location=Edinburgh |work=The Scotsman}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-these-g8-protests-are-vital-for-the-world-so-we-must-avoid-the-violence-of-genoa-494363.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120906105053/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-these-g8-protests-are-vital-for-the-world-so-we-must-avoid-the-violence-of-genoa-494363.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 6, 2012 |title=Johann Hari: These G8 protests are vital for the world, so we must avoid the violence of Genoa |last=Hari |first=Johann |date=June 17, 2005 |access-date=September 6, 2009 | location=London | work=The Independent}}</ref>

In the early 21st century, tactical frivolity was often used at much smaller events than global summits; for example, the group [[Billionaires for Bush]] would stage humorous events at [[Republican National Convention|US Republican conventions]].  Similar actions and pranks were staged in Australia during the 2004 federal election by the John Howard Ladies’ Auxiliary Fan Club, named for the country's conservative Prime Minister.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sorensen |first=Majken Jul |date=2021-11-03 |title=Humorous Political Stunts: Nonviolent Public Challenges to Power |url=https://commonslibrary.org/humorous-political-stunts-nonviolent-public-challenges-to-power/ |access-date=2024-09-19 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}}</ref>  According to [[David Graeber]], this upswell in the use of humorous protest tactics can be traced in part to the [[Youth International Party|Yippies]] of the 1960s and the [[Zapatista Army of National Liberation|Zapatista]], which began operations in the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite journal|first=David |last=Graeber|author-link= David Graeber | title = The new anarchists | journal = [[New Left Review]] | volume = II | issue = 13 | publisher = New Left Review | date = January–February 2002 | url = http://newleftreview.org/II/13/david-graeber-the-new-anarchists }}</ref>

At the  [[31st G8 summit|2005 G8 summit]] in Scotland, tactical frivolity was again used by protesters such as the [[Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army]]<ref>
{{cite book
|last=Skrimshire
|first=Stefan
|title=Politics of fear, practices of hope
|year=2008
|page =156
|isbn=978-1-84706-075-4
|publisher= Continuum International
}}</ref> a group whose theatrical and carnival like performances succeeded in attracting considerable media attention and were funded by [[Arts Council England]].<ref name = "BBC4">
{{cite video
| title = G8 Can You Hear Us?
| url = https://archive.org/details/G8CanYouHearUs
|medium = TV documentary
| publisher = [[BBC|BBC 4]]
| location = UK
|date = 2005}}
</ref>
The large scale use of tactical frivolity at the 2001 and 2005 G8 protests failed to deliver any tangible change in policy, but the method continued to be used, for example at protests held concerning air travel at [[Heathrow]], England during 2007.<ref>{{cite news
|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/aug/17/theairlineindustry.transportintheuk
|title= Turbulent times
|access-date=2009-09-09
|date =2007-08-17
|author = John Harris
|work=[[The Guardian]]
| location=London}}
</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Activists target Heathrow; Plan 'tactical frivolity' to disrupt airport, put focus on eco-damage caused by air travel |work=[[Toronto Star]] |date=August 18, 2007  |first=Mitch |last=Potter}}</ref>

Tactical frivolity was used at the [[2011 London anti-cuts protest]]. Some of the ''tactical frivolity protestors'' integrated fully into the main march; others trailed in the wake of [[black bloc]] anarchists, while remaining non violent themselves.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mason|first=Paul|chapter=Chpt. 3|title=Why It's Kicking Off Everywhere: The New Global Revolutions|location=London,Verso|year=2012|isbn=978-1-84467-851-8|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/whyitskickingoff0000maso}}</ref>
[[Adbusters]], the magazine credited for starting the global [[Occupy movement]], called for Occupiers to use tactical frivolity, though the method has only been used sporadically. Author and academic Luke Bretherton has suggested that tactical frivolity allows protestors to represent the otherwise inexpressible sacred power of imagination, which is achieved partly through the "use of huge puppets, dance and street theatre".<ref>{{cite news
|url= http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/luke-bretherton/the-real-battle-of-st-pau_b_1065214.html
|title= The Real Battle of St Paul Cathedral: The Occupy Movement and Millennial Politics
|work= Huffington Post
|author=  Luke Bretherton
|date = 2011-10-29
|access-date=2012-02-18|author-link= Luke Bretherton
}}
</ref>