Issue: Principles & Processes

A focus on individual actions can distract from the larger climate movement goal of system change. While many activists in the UK-based group Extinction Rebellion (XR) call for “system change,” what is missing is an understanding of what kind of system change is necessary—and how it might be achieved. XR activists still engage in personal pro-environmental behaviors, even though their political goals are aimed at systemic change, and the group continues to argue that blaming and shaming individuals is counterproductive. This article argues that accusations of hypocrisy (based on their personal choices of climate movement activists) are used to discredit, divide, and undermine the climate movement—and those accusations by opponents work, to some degree.

This booklet aims to give people thinking about going to or organizing a protest information about best practices for interacting with law enforcement in-the-moment. Further, it can also help as advance information to consider in order to assess risk and prepare for possible police encounters. When you are protesting or having any interaction with law enforcement, asserting your rights does not usually mean that the police will respect your rights or change how they are treating you. However, by using your rights (by saying them out loud, as this booklet will teach you to do), you can make it harder for police to use your own statements or anything found on you during a search as evidence against you during a trial. Using this information could help your case later in court and, importantly, can help you protect your fellow activists.