Speaking to the crowd, speaking on behalf of the crowd, speaking with the crowd? Maintaining and revolutionising resistance of the policeable omnirelevance device during the Sarah Everard Vigil

and Fitzgerald, Richard 2025. Speaking to the crowd, speaking on behalf of the crowd, speaking with the crowd? Maintaining and revolutionising resistance of the policeable omnirelevance device during the Sarah Everard Vigil. Housley, William, Fitzgerald, Richard, Au-Yeung, Terry S.H. and Smith, Robin, eds. New Directions in Membership Categorisation Analysis, Brill,

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Abstract

This chapter investigates the dynamics of crowd behaviour leading up to the contentious police intervention at the Sarah Everard vigil, held on 13 March 2021 at Clapham Common, London. Despite the event's formal cancellation due to COVID-19 restrictions, individuals gathered to mourn Sarah Everard’s death. The chapter examines how participants navigated the boundary between being a ‘legal spontaneous crowd’ and an ‘illegal organised event’. Through the analysis of video data and the application of Membership Categorisation Analysis, it reveals how the crowd resisted categorisation as an organised event, which would have legitimised police intervention. The analysis focuses on interactions between the crowd, speakers, and observing police officers, highlighting the invocation of omnirelevant devices to maintain the gathering’s legality—and how the legal/illegal device was later revolutionalised by subsequent speakers. The chapter also discusses the concept of omnirelevance and its role in understanding the layered and dynamic nature of social interactions in public gatherings. These findings contribute to broader discussions on crowd policing, resistance, and the socio-logic of categorisation in public events.

Item Type:	Book Section
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HM Sociology H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Publisher:	Brill
Funders:	Economic and Social Research Council
Last Modified:	15 Oct 2025 09:31
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/181619

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