6 Reasons why direct activists aren’t just nutters
Direct action - peaceful protest - non-violent civil disobedience. Whatever you call it, it’s standing up (or sitting down) for something you believe in. Maybe it’s a carnival at a coal conference, maybe it’s breaking some trespass laws, to protest the breaking of Governmental environment pledges.
Environmental direct action is going on all over the place in the UK at the moment, so here’s thecoalhole’s six reasons why direct action’s an option to consider, whoever you are.
1. “Nice people with PhD’s” - Teachers and doctors are activists too
Contrary to the popular myth that direct activists are all unemployed or students, most activists we meet are either people who are concerned about an issue or an injustice to others - like local groups who put pressure on shops to sell fair trade goods - or people who are directly affected by an unjust situation - like those whose homes are being destroyed to make way for an airport expansion.
In fact at last years Camp for Climate Action at Heathrow the Daily Mail reporter said “I went to the camp expecting to find drug-addled layabouts and instead found lots of nice people with PhD’s!”
(Having said that, it is OK to go on an action if you don’t have a PhD.)
2. “Great career development” - Direct activists have a variety of skills, and learn quickly
Successful direct action campaigns require a variety of skills like listening, organising, negotiation and co-operation, as well as technical IT knowledge, (setting up a website), presentation skills (for when you are giving interviews to the media), patience (when you D-lock yourself to a gate for several hours) or maybe legal knowledge if you are on the end of a phone in a legal support team. The good thing is that you don’t have to do all of it - you can pick the roles that suit your skills, or the ones you want to develop.
3. “Team-building” - Direct activists are very sociable
Imagine one of those stupid office team building exercises - paintballing with the accounts department, maybe. Sounds awful… Now imagine it without the paintballing, without all the horrible macho posturing, in a coal power station, and not surrounded by accountants. Sounds a lot better, right? (Although accountants also take part in direct action - see above).
Now imagine being on a digger in a proposed coal fired power station with five other people for two days… Planning an action will have drawn you together, and doing the action is a great way to cement strong friendships. It will be a much more pleasant experience if you are a people person with a sense of humour, and luckily, activists tend to be just that!
4. Think, then act - A rational mind is essential!
If you are taking part in direct action to highlight an issue you need to know why you are doing it. If you have thought about why you are doing it before hand you are more likely to be effective. There’s no point getting involved if you aren’t really sure if you should be there.
Getting involved in direct action on an issue like coal means you’ve got a firmly-held, carefully thought out argument that new coal power stations and opencast mines are going to be a disaster for local people and the planet, and you’ve carefully decided to act on your beliefs.
5. “So, why are you here?” - Activists are knowledgeable
Journalists will ask you why you are there. (Usually this is the first thing they’ll ask - as a question, it avoids the need for background research). You will need to be able to talk with authority about the environmental impact of coal fired power stations, airport expansions, carbon offsetting schemes, climate change and the like. Good direct activists do their homework, and usually end up embarrassing whichever industry flunky they’re arguing against on Newsnight.
6. Active citizenship - DA is good for democracy
When it’s important and urgent to address a big issue like new coal, there are many ways to do something about it. You can volunteer or work for an NGO that addresses the issues you are concerned about, you can write to your MP, you can increase your knowledge and talk to people about the issue. As part of all of this, a direct action campaign allows people to get much needed publicity for the issue they are concerned about and draw people’s attention to the issue. It enables people to take an active role in politics and the democratic process. And these days, when you might feel a little bit short-changed by the general blandness of a lot of politicians, that can’t be a bad thing.
Women’s rights to vote, the ending of the slave trade, the ending of apartheid, the civil rights movement in the US - all of these well known examples, and many more less well known ones, have shown that when done well, creatively and persistently, peaceful protest strengthens democracy and sorts things out for the better.
Faced with the environmental challenges we see ahead, it’s never been more important to realise that DA’s not some weird hobby or sideshow - it’s democracy in action, for you and me.
So, what are we waiting for? Any other reasons you think DA is a good option? Stick them in the comments…
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