: Let us also not forget that '60s marches were the templates for those today, that the '80s weren't the political lull you imply (remember the miner's strike?) and the early '90s were the lull. Surely the miner's strike, and the other great demonstrations in the 80s at Wapping, just demonstrate how ineffective marching can be, especially when it gets out of hand. The miner's strike was far more than merely a demonstration against pit closures, but against the end of an entire way of life. Yet it gained the areas where the pits closed no special concessions, and the violence which errupted there turned much of the country against the miners. (I remember being little more than a toddler and being convinced that Arthur Scargill and all his minions were evil). The same was true at Wapping: the end of an era, and much of the populus turned against the strikers by the battles with the police.
I saw the tail end of the RTS march in Oxford last Saturday, after the violence in Cornmarket. I don't see how they could expect to gain anything in the way they marched. Firstly by gathering at the house of one of the University professors it appeared not that they wished to reason with anyone, or indeed bring any issues onto the agenda, rather just intimidate people on a personal level. Secondly the image given by their appearance was that of intimidation. The use of full face balaclavas, and the fact that many people were wearing military clothing (lightweight trousers, combat boot, camoflage jackets) made them look like paramilitaries. In a society where most people are concerned about terrorist organisations, the RTS march looked far to much like some kind of terror campaign to avoid being discounted as merely the work of some ecological extremists. And at that point the march becomes worse than useless.
As for the violence: I wasn't there I didn't see it. But I can understand how the police would be sufficiently concerned to manage it very carefully. And as you have pointed out before harsh policing is often sufficient spark to begin violence.
