Undoing the market : corporate sponsorship and activist protests at Tate Galleries

This article focuses on activist group Liberate Tate’s online performance-based protests against BP’s (Beyond Petroleum) sponsorship of Tate Galleries in London. Their life protests took place at one of London’s Tate Galleries, either Tate Britain or Tate Modern (2010-2016), and were recorded, edited and posted online on the group’s website. The article conceptualises the protests as interaction rituals (Collins, 2001); collective gatherings characterised by their group assembly, a shared focus of attention including an object/symbol and the creation of barriers to outsiders. If successful, they can lead to the production of group identity, and emotional energy, feelings of confidence, of enthusiasm, that translate into a desire for action, and collective, group symbols (Collins, 2001). The article draws upon and critiques Collins’ perspective, arguing for the importance of embodiment and the online environment of protests in understanding their ability to produce emotional energy and collective identity.