Chapter 5, Street Fighting Summary and Analysis

The author introduces street fighting. This is not the random activity of criminals as it is described and discussed by Walter Benjamin. It is actually about the struggle between the economic and social classes. The proletariat - the poor essentially, were continuing to strive for greater economic and social power and better conditions. Many of the members of these classes were workers. Workers unions and political parties based in them stemmed from this type of situation. These people were, in general, the urban form of the peasants of the more agrarian form of the society. While this is just one more small step in a lengthy process, the author's main point here is that most street fighting was done without weaponry or with knives rather than with guns.

The author also notes that the rise of glass...