Louis Sinner

Provo’s en Justitie [Provos and Justice]

Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij, 1966. First edition. Softcover. Perfect bound. 5 x 7 3/4 in. 54 pp. Text in Dutch. Very good; minor wear on edges and spine, mild toning around edges from age. Item #6930

First edition of journalist Louis Sinner’s text in which he argues that the legal system was not objective in its dealings with Provo.

Founded on May 25, 1965 in the Netherlands, the countercultural Provo movement sought to provoke violent responses from the Dutch police via non-violent happenings that combined absurdist humor and civil disobedience. A radical urbanist and environmentalist project, the Provos proposed several action plans for the city of Amsterdam, instituted an ad-hoc bike share program, squatting abandoned housing, proposed a plan for shared electric cars, advocated widespread sex education and contraceptives, and proposed a disarming of the police. With internal strife rising, the movement began to be accepted by mainstream culture, most notably with the 1967 election of a Provo representative; it was disbanded and a funeral was held to mark the occasion on May 13, 1967.

Price: $50.00