ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the urban arenas that featured violent crowds in pre-industrial Stockholm, c.1700–1850. It analyses eight popular riots, including crowds of several hundreds of participants, and a large number of everyday street fights. The chapter focuses on four kinds of urban spaces: the poor quarters; the political quarters; the narrow alleys; and the spacious squares. The diversity of urban spaces put different demands on both crowds and local authorities. Based on Charles Tilly’s theories on popular contentions, this chapter suggests that during riots and open conflicts, otherwise hidden structures—for example, structures of power, class struggle and gender—surface and become available for historical investigation. By applying linkages between the contentious gatherings and the specific locations within the city, these structures and their connection to different kind of urban spaces will be revealed.
