Flash mobs as a form of struggle The obedient shopper subverts their role to disrupt the circulation of commodities... flash mobs enter the terrain of class conflict.

"A flash mob ... is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse." (Wikipedia.)

Beginning in 2003, flash mobs were a form of activity organised via mobile phones and internet; bringing contacts together in public spaces to act out various bizarre acts of collective non-conformity such as pillow fights, water pistol battles, silent discos (where earphoned individuals dance to their personal stereos/mp3 players) etc. Like short pieces of performance art, briefly changing the normal usage of public space and providing a safe thrill of 'non-corformity' expressed as a crowd all doing the same pre-defined activity.