Wednesday, October 17, 2018: the first rebels ever from Extinction Rebellion (XR) hold a sit-in at Greenpeace’s UK headquarters. Yes, you read that right: a sit-in at Greenpeace. The rebels handed out flowers and engaged in conversation with Greenpeace employees. This very first XR action was therefore not directed against the government or large corporations, but against a climate organization.

With the sit-in, XR demanded that Greenpeace call on its members to engage in mass civil disobedience: the only way to ‘prevent the worst consequences of climate disruption.’ XR argued that Greenpeace, and similar organizations, are part of the problem because they do not urge their members to do what is necessary to bring about major change. According to XR, the crisis analysis of organizations such as Greenpeace was (and is) too limited: not focused on systemic change and with too much emphasis on the consumption behavior of individual citizens. Greenpeace is thus aligning itself with the fossil fuel industry, which introduced the carbon footprint to shift the blame for the climate crisis onto consumers.

Civil disobedience, then. That is what XR was founded for. It is therefore rather strange that many of the actions carried out by XR rebels are not civil disobedient. Rebels march in climate marches, sound the climate alarm every first Monday of the month, and come up with ‘positive’ and ‘playful’ actions to win over hearts and minds. Although these kinds of demonstrations serve as an accessible first step for new rebels, they are forms of action that XR does not believe in. Core value 4 states that we ‘have a duty not to obey the system that is destroying life on Earth and is deeply unjust’ and that civil disobedience and direct action are crucial for change. It is a core value that no one should forget, because we are irrevocably heading for disaster. Signing petitions, writing letters to politicians, and marching in climate protests have done nothing to change that.

What is civil disobedience?

Civil disobedient actions are actions in which you consciously and openly break the law. The crisis is so urgent that major changes are now needed, and only disruptive action is eye-catching enough to bring them about.

The result of breaking the law: media attention and commotion. This ensures that not only people who have seen the action with their own eyes are aware of our goals, but ‘everyone’. Members of Parliament are falling over each other in debates, the action is the talk of the day on talk shows, and columnists are adding their two cents. In this way, XR influences public and political debate with the explicit aim of shifting that debate. We have seen how this works in the actions against fossil fuel subsidies. When XR started, virtually no one knew that these subsidies existed. Now, a majority of Dutch people are in favor of abolishing them.

XR is not the first or only movement to use civil disobedience. In fact, our actions build on a long history. The Civil Rights Movement, for example, used civil disobedience to fight for equal civil rights for all Americans. One of the most famous examples is Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on the bus to a white American. The subsequent lawsuit and 381-day boycott contributed to the abolition of segregation on buses (where there were separate seats based on color).

There are also examples of successful civil disobedience campaigns in the Netherlands. For example, we owe our extensive network of bike paths to the actions of a group that campaigned against poor traffic safety in the 1970s with the slogan ‘Stop child murder.’ They occupied intersections and blocked roads to reinforce their demands.

Civil disobedience is therefore an effective strategy for bringing about major change. When it was founded, XR even claimed that it was the most effective strategy. However, this is debatable, as direct action also has a major impact. Think of blocking a railway line to stop coal transports or people chaining themselves to a lock so that cruise ships cannot pass through. XR would do well to use both strategies.

The crisis is happening now, people are dying, plants and animals are becoming extinct. We don’t have a moment to lose. Every rebel must ask themselves how they can use these strategies. We must do what is necessary, even if it takes us outside our comfort zone. Extinction! Rebellion!