Protest!

Massenpolitik, Fotografie und Presse 1900 bis 1938

Abstract

The street as a stage of protest and the photographic public sphere are closely intertwined. Both emerged in parallel and closely related to each other around 1900. Using Austria as an example, this article examines how the mass politics of the street – strikes, rallies, protest actions – were reflected in the medium of photography between 1900 and 1938 and how, conversely, the illustrated press became the echo chamber of the politics of protest. By the end of the 1920s, the politics on the street was an important toolkit of leftist forces and the social democracy. In the 1930s, the conservatives conquered the public sphere and eventually put the controlled mass rallies at the service of the dictatorship.