Yes, protests are disruptive, but they also make history

HISTORY is noisy. The tranquil scratch of the monarchic pen on a law or treaty might be the act that alters its course, but these moments are generally prefaced by a much less genteel phenomenon; the theatre of protest — the political PR stunt. And what can appear as little more than disruptive chaos invariably seeds change that outlives the headlines.

- Mark Borkowski

That was the starting point for my new Archive on 4 documentary for BBC Radio 4, Outrage Inc — a journey back through the archives to rediscover the creative genius and conviction behind the protest stunt. Because we forget who took the risks, what it cost them and how much we owe them.

Take the Suffragettes. Today, we package them as harmless biddies in sashes and rosettes, politely marching for the vote. The reality was far more combustible. They smashed shop windows, set fire to post boxes and staged arson attacks on empty buildings.

They chained themselves to railings, endured hunger strikes and were force-fed in prison. If those tactics were deployed today, they would be denounced as extremists. Yet without their disruption, women’s suffrage would not have been achieved when it was.

FAST-FORWARD half a century and, in 1968, the Miss America pageant was disrupted by feminists, furious at its “cattle market” treatment of women. Two years later, Miss World at the Royal Albert Hall descended into chaos when flour bombs, whistles, and slogans bombarded host Bob Hope in a feminist protest that made their point more clearly than any manifesto.