XR questioning their 'strategy' (sic) after the 'Big One's Big Failure
Posted by Ian M on May 20, 2023, 3:13 pm
Apparently 80% of participants at one of their citizens assemblies were in favour of going back to civil disobedience after courting the mainstream NGOs and dropping the tactic of public disruption resulted in a big fat nothing from the govt. As was obvious from the start (not that they achieved much with public disruption either). Novara Media interview, from 18:30:
They acted like a liberal/professional NGO, now they complain they're being ignored and placated ... like a liberal/professional NGO.
There were marches so big you had to queue to join them. There were moving speeches, star-studded musical sets, pickets outside government buildings, and peoples' assemblies using clever software to allow ideas to be uploaded and rated.
But there was a key ingredient missing from this rebellion in the city where rebellion first began. And that was disruption. Instead, this would be a rebellion where anyone concerned about the climate crisis could attend without fear of arrest, and sheer numbers would force the government into dialogue. This would be The Big One.
For four days, Westminster became a place of creativity, solidarity, and public assembly.
A direct benefit of this tactical softening was the unprecedented support of over 200 eco and social justice groups, with stalls from many of them lining the stretch of road outside parliament which hosted the 4-day rebellion.
There was also a distinct lack of police. Gone were the colonnades of scowling police officers, swooping in to randomly arrest someone or seize a speaker system. Now we had a small army of smiling rebel stewards, making sure pavements were kept clear, schedules were kept to, and disruption was kept to a minimum.
But this more loving, less rage-filled era also had its problems. After making a lot of fuss about how the rebellion would ruin the neighbouring London Marathon (it didn’t), the British media pretty much ignored The Big One, and so too did the government. Rebels and other activists may have massed at parliament’s doorstep, but clearly the numbers required to get that door to open were not met.
An Algerian refugee talks of his harrowing journey to the UK and how seeking happiness should be a human right.
That’s not to say that attendance figures were bad. At least 60,000 people attended the Earth Day biodiversity march around Westminster, and across the 4 days XR UK’s goal of 100,000 attendees was certainly met.
The Big One’s broad new alliance also brought in fresh faces and enriched actions, like the rally outside the Home Office where an Algerian asylum seeker spoke movingly about his perilous journey across the English Channel before rebels launched 1000s of small pink paper boats in solidarity with migrants everywhere.
XR UK’s open-arm approach, and the amazing activist alliance that resulted, should be celebrated. But for a future Big One to challenge that system, it either needs to be a lot bigger, or a lot more disruptive, or (somehow) both.
Rebel scientists outline the tactical dilemma now facing XR UK.
The rebellion’s final people's assembly showed that the vast majority want to return to disruptive actions, despite the UK’s draconian new protest laws. Whether this might diminish or fire up the fledgling activist alliance remains to be seen.
XR has long been a space where family-friendly actions and spicy civil disobedience can co-exist peacefully, each enriching the movement in their own special way. The hope is that XR UK can now build on the alliances forged during The Big One, and ensure The Next One finds that sweet spot between nice and spicy, between big and attention-grabbing, and makes those in power so agitated they actually open that door.
Tell XR UK what you think should happen next. The Big One: Broad Alliance Put On "Ignore"
21 - 24 APRIL | London, UK
There were marches so big you had to queue to join them. There were moving speeches, star-studded musical sets, pickets outside government buildings, and peoples' assemblies using clever software to allow ideas to be uploaded and rated.
But there was a key ingredient missing from this rebellion in the city where rebellion first began. And that was disruption. Instead, this would be a rebellion where anyone concerned about the climate crisis could attend without fear of arrest, and sheer numbers would force the government into dialogue. This would be The Big One.
For four days, Westminster became a place of creativity, solidarity, and public assembly.
A direct benefit of this tactical softening was the unprecedented support of over 200 eco and social justice groups, with stalls from many of them lining the stretch of road outside parliament which hosted the 4-day rebellion.
There was also a distinct lack of police. Gone were the colonnades of scowling police officers, swooping in to randomly arrest someone or seize a speaker system. Now we had a small army of smiling rebel stewards, making sure pavements were kept clear, schedules were kept to, and disruption was kept to a minimum.
But this more loving, less rage-filled era also had its problems. After making a lot of fuss about how the rebellion would ruin the neighbouring London Marathon (it didn’t), the British media pretty much ignored The Big One, and so too did the government. Rebels and other activists may have massed at parliament’s doorstep, but clearly the numbers required to get that door to open were not met.
An Algerian refugee talks of his harrowing journey to the UK and how seeking happiness should be a human right.
That’s not to say that attendance figures were bad. At least 60,000 people attended the Earth Day biodiversity march around Westminster, and across the 4 days XR UK’s goal of 100,000 attendees was certainly met.
The Big One’s broad new alliance also brought in fresh faces and enriched actions, like the rally outside the Home Office where an Algerian asylum seeker spoke movingly about his perilous journey across the English Channel before rebels launched 1000s of small pink paper boats in solidarity with migrants everywhere.
XR UK’s open-arm approach, and the amazing activist alliance that resulted, should be celebrated. But for a future Big One to challenge that system, it either needs to be a lot bigger, or a lot more disruptive, or (somehow) both.
Rebel scientists outline the tactical dilemma now facing XR UK.
The rebellion’s final people's assembly showed that the vast majority want to return to disruptive actions, despite the UK’s draconian new protest laws. Whether this might diminish or fire up the fledgling activist alliance remains to be seen.
XR has long been a space where family-friendly actions and spicy civil disobedience can co-exist peacefully, each enriching the movement in their own special way. The hope is that XR UK can now build on the alliances forged during The Big One, and ensure The Next One finds that sweet spot between nice and spicy, between big and attention-grabbing, and makes those in power so agitated they actually open that door.
And if it's only about numbers and growing the movement we're in trouble. Coz we ain't got time.
In any case, I wonder how many go home after, despairing that nothing actually changed. And they won't come back. Managing expectations is important. Calling it "The Big One" creates all sorts of expectations that will obviously not be realised and will only lead to disillusionment and frustration.
Reminds me of the ridiculous Germaine Greer who went on that huge anti Iraq War march, discovered it didn't stop that war and proceeded to criticise the march in the media. Maybe she had some other suggestions. (I doubt if civil disobedience would have been one of them).
Counting the numbers who were there is pointless. We already knew many/most people are concerned about man made climate change. Now we know that if demos are peaceful and legal and, presumably, not too frequent, people will attend. We already knew that.
Remember those huge anti nuclear demos. And the various Climate Camps. Great fun. And empowering. But what did they really achieve? We need to look at movements/fights/struggles from the past and see what successes they had, if any.
And we need to stop kidding ourselves. We need ongoing public disruption.
Stop worrying about who you're going to alienate. The people you alienate outside the movement are never going to suport the movement anyway.
And many in the movement who would support a large legal mass gathering are never themselves going to take part in actions that can lead to arrest. But they might support financially.
And, while disruptive small actions don't need much financial investment, money is needed to pay fines and provide ongoing support to people who get locked up.
Huge gatherings, like The Big One, use up a lot of energy and resources that are best used elsewhere.
That's just a quick reaction to your subject line and a quick scan of the content from a few days ago (hope I haven't just repeated all the stuff that's in there) and the loads of self-congratulatory emails I got from XR about the Big One before the event (that have been bugging me).
on May 20, 2023, 3:13 pm