Extinction Rebellion

Extinction Rebellion

File:Extinction Rebellion, green placard (cropped).jpg
Named after	Anthropocene extinction
Motto	Fight for life Rebel for life
Formation	31 October 2018 (2018-10-31)
Type	Civil society campaign
Purpose	Climate change mitigation Nature conservation Environmental protection Social anarchism Cultural Marxism
Region	United Kingdom
Methods	Direct action
Fields	Conservation movement Environmental movement
Affiliations	Rising Up!
Website	rebellion.earth insulatebritain.com juststopoil.org

Extinction Rebellion (sometimes shortened as XR) is a revolutionary social anarchist political movement that aims to drive radical change, through what it claims to be nonviolent resistance in order to minimise species extinction and avert climate breakdown.

Established in 2018 with about one hundred academics signing a call to action and launched at the end of October by Roger Hallam, Gail Bradbrook, Simon Bramwell and other left-wing activists from the campaign group Rising Up!. In November 2018, various acts of civil disobedience took place in London. The movement is unusual in that a large number of activists have pledged to be arrested and are prepared to go to prison, similar to the mass arrest tactics of the Committee of 100 in 1961.

Citing inspiration from previous and current revolutionary movements such as the French Revolution, Occupy, Gandhi’s independence movement, the Suffragettes, the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution, the Iranian Revolution, Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement, and Black Lives Matter, Extinction Rebellion intends to rally support worldwide around a common sense of urgency to tackle climate breakdown.

In 2021, an offshoot of the organization, named Insulate Britain, was launched, followed by another offshoot, Just Stop Oil, in 2022.

Manifesto

Demands

Extinction Rebellion's website states its aims as:

• "The Government must tell the truth about the climate and wider ecological emergency, reverse inconsistent policies and work alongside the media to communicate with citizens.
• The Government must enact legally binding policy measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025 and to reduce consumption levels.
• A national Citizens' Assembly to oversee the changes, as part of creating a democracy fit for purpose."

Principles and values

As presented on the Extinction Rebellion website:

1. "We have a shared vision of change – creating a world that is fit for generations to come.
2. We set our mission on what is necessary – mobilising 3.5% of the population to achieve system change – using ideas such as “momentum-driven organising” to achieve this.
3. We need a regenerative culture – creating a culture which is healthy, resilient and adaptable.
4. We openly challenge ourselves and this toxic system – leaving our comfort zones to take action for change.
5. We value reflecting and learning – following a cycle of action, reflection, learning, and planning for more action. Learning from other movements and contexts as well as our own experiences.
6. We welcome everyone and every part of everyone – working actively to create safer and more accessible spaces.
7. We actively mitigate for power – breaking down hierarchies of power for more equitable participation.
8. We avoid blaming and shaming – we live in a toxic system, but no one individual is to blame.
9. We are a non-violent network – using non-violent strategy and tactics as the most effective way to bring about change.
10. We are based on autonomy and decentralization – we collectively create the structures we need to challenge power. Anyone who follows these core principles and values can take action in the name of RisingUp!"

Support

On 26 October 2018, about one hundred academics signed a call to action about the ecological crisis:

The science is clear, the facts are incontrovertible, and it is unconscionable to us that our children and grandchildren should have to bear the terrifying brunt of an unprecedented disaster of our own making. [...] Our government is complicit in ignoring the precautionary principle, and in failing to acknowledge that infinite economic growth on a planet with finite resources is non-viable. [...] When a government wilfully abrogates its responsibility to protect its citizens from harm and to secure the future for generations to come, it has failed in its most essential duty of stewardship. The “social contract” has been broken, and it is therefore not only our right, but our moral duty to bypass the government’s inaction and flagrant dereliction of duty, and to rebel to defend life itself. We therefore declare our support for Extinction Rebellion, launching on 31 October 2018. We fully stand behind the demands for the government to tell the hard truth to its citizens. We call for a Citizens’ Assembly to work with scientists on the basis of the extant evidence and in accordance with the precautionary principle, to urgently develop a credible plan for rapid total decarbonisation of the economy.

The ten first signatories are:

• Alison Green
• Joy Carter
• Rowan Williams
• Danny Dorling
• Jem Bendell
• Ian Gibson
• Susie Orbach
• David Drew
• Molly Scott Cato
• Shahrar Ali

Other signatories include:

• Meg-John Barker
• Claire Callender
• Harvey Goldstein
• Wendy Hollway
• Richard House
• Calum Neill
• Ann Phoenix
• Rupert Read
• Diane Reay
• Lynne Segal
• Prem Sikka
• Andrew Simms
• Guy Standing
• Gail Bradbrook

Other supporters:

• Julia Bradbury
• Jack Harries
• Jenny Jones
• Caspar Lee
• Caroline Lucas
• George Monbiot
• Greta Thunberg
• Sean Maguire

Actions

“ Organisers say they hope the campaign of “respectful disruption” will change the debate around climate breakdown and signal to those in power that the present course of action will lead to disaster. ” — Damien Gayle, The Guardian

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Extinction Rebellion protest on Blackfriars Bridge (17 November 2018).

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'Swarming roadblocks' (23 November 2018).

On 17 October 2018, activists from Extinction Rebellion held a sit-in at the UK headquarters of Greenpeace, the direct action environmental organisation, "to encourage their members to participate in mass civil disobedience as the only remaining alternative to avert the worst of the catastrophe" and join in future activities of Extinction Rebellion.

An assembly took place at Parliament Square on 31 October 2018, and drew more than a thousand people to hear the "Declaration of Rebellion" against the UK government and speeches by Donnachadh McCarthy, 15-year-old Greta Thunberg, the Swedish schoolgirl "on strike" from school over her own government's climate inaction, Julia Bradbury, and Green MEP Molly Scott Cato in the square. After a motion was proposed and agreed, the assembly then moved to occupy the road, where Caroline Lucas, George Monbiot, and other speakers and singers, including Seize the Day, continued from the reclaimed street directly in front of the Houses of Parliament. Following this, 15 campaigners were arrested for deliberately continuing the sit-in in the roadway.

In the first two weeks of the movement in November 2018, more than 60 people were arrested for taking part in acts of civil disobedience organised by Extinction Rebellion. People blockaded and spray-painted slogans on the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 12 November. Activists unveiled a "Climate Change... We're Fucked" banner over Westminster Bridge and glued themselves to the gates of Downing Street on 14 November.

On 17 November 2018, in what was called "Rebellion Day", thousands of people took part in a coordinated action to block the five main bridges over the River Thames in London (Southwark, Blackfriars, Waterloo, Westminster, and Lambeth) for several hours, causing major traffic disruption. The Guardian described it as "one of the biggest acts of peaceful civil disobedience in the UK in decades". YBA artist Gavin Turk was one of the activists arrested for obstructing the public highway. Internationally there was an action by the XR group in Stockholm, as well as rallies in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Belfast. Copenhagen, Berlin, Madrid and New York.

From 21 November 2018, beginning a campaign known as 'swarming' roadblocks (repeated roadblocks of approximately 7 minutes each), small groups of Extinction Rebellion activists carried out protests by occupying road junctions at Lambeth and Vauxhall Bridges, Elephant and Castle, Tower Bridge and Earl's Court, causing serious disruption to rush-hour traffic and continuing throughout the day. Similar actions continued for the next two days in London, with one group moving to Oxford Street on Black Friday afternoon.

On 23 November, in a first action outside London, an Extinction Rebellion group in York stopped traffic on Coppergate, Clifford Street, Pavement and Ouse Bridge, as well as holding a demo outside West Offices of the City of York Council. An Oxford XR group also blocked traffic on Botley Road the same day.

A week after the first, "Rebellion Day 2" saw Extinction Rebellion block the roads around Parliament Square, before a mock funeral march to Downing Street and then onto Buckingham Palace. Gail Bradbrook read out a letter to the Queen and one activist superglued herself to the gates of the Palace, before the procession returned to Parliament Square. On 24 November there were actions outside London by XR groups in Manchester, Sheffield, Machynlleth and Edinburgh.

Extinction Rebellion events are planned in 27 other countries including Ireland, Australia, Canada, France, Sweden, Germany, Colombia and the United States.

Insulate Britain

A series of protests by a faction of Extinction Rebellion otherwise known as Insulate Britain involving traffic obstruction began on 13 September 2021. The faction has blockaded the M25 and other motorways in the United Kingdom, as well as roads in London and the Port of Dover.

Just Stop Oil

Just Stop Oil is a more recently established faction of Extinction Rebellion, which was founded in early 2022.

See also

• Anthropocene
• Committee of 100 (United Kingdom)
• Ecological collapse
• Environmental direct action in the United Kingdom
• Fossil fuel phase-out
• Global catastrophic risk
• Individual and political action on climate change
• Low-carbon economy
• Overshoot (population)
• Peak oil
• Precautionary principle
• Social contract
• The Limits to Growth

External links

• Official website
• XR Declaration – The Extinction Rebellion "Declaration of Rebellion" live from Parliament Square with Greta Thunberg, Donnachadh McCarthy, George Monbiot, Molly Scott and Dr Gail Bradbrook – 31 October 2018
• Whilst being arrested, one rebel was asked "Do you have anything to say?" – They replied "This is for my nieces and nephews. So that we can work towards a greater planet for them to live on. A healthy planet, a sustainable future for my little 3-year-old niece. This is for you, Adeline."