100 years of tear gas: militarisation, protests and the legacies of war

This panel will bring together academics, activists and experts to discuss the military, policing, legal, commercial and medical aspects of tear gas, both in historic and more contemporary contexts. First used in 1914, tear gas is a legacy of WWI, developed as a chemical weapon for military use, then misleadingly rebranded as a “non-lethal” weapon used to repress social protests around the world.

Organised as part of Open Education Week, this panel will also explore how citizens have developed DIY gas mask instructions and home remedies, circulated transnationally in print and online, allowing for new kinds of ad-hoc “amateur practices” to emerge (i.e citizen journalists, citizen scientists, citizen lawyers).

The panel will be live-streamed online and will open up to questions from the audience via Twitter and the #OpenEducationWk hashtag.