Traffic blockades, naked in the Parliament, a colored flow: The movement Extinction Rebellion, protest unconventional for climate protection – and is quickly gaining the inlet. In October, she wants to put cities in the world to a standstill.
Suddenly green: The Limmat river in Zurich on Tuesday
Zurich ends up in the Rankings of the cities according to the quality of life organize regularly pretty far above: The city is clean, the transport is excellent and the mountains close. Another plus point of the Limmat river, in the turquoise-blue waters, many Zurich a refreshing dip in the summer is. This Tuesday at about noon on the river in the city turned suddenly poison green. The confusion was great, the police started Emittlungen, settled water samples.
Then some people just drifted motionless in the water. There were activists of the “Extinction of Rebellion”. They had tipped harmless Uranine in the Limmat river, and one of their “Die-Ins” held: The protest form is not different from the “Sit-in”, because the Participants joined in the sit-down strike, but at a sign the same time to be dead.
The organization is just a year old, and has already done with numerous unusual actions and the deadly consequences of climate change. 2018 in the UK, founded in, is the Extinction of Rebellion (dt.: To grow Rebellion against the extinction) fast of an international movement, and according to information now in about 70 countries represented. In Germany, thousands are involved in more than 70 local chapters. Given the rapid inflow of the group the question arises: How far should, how far the Protest for effective climate protection?
These two participants of The “die-ins” in the Limmat river in full consciousness
The limits aimed to exceed
“We see that decades Demonstrate long and petitions brought under write far too little,” says Annemarie Botzki of Extinction Rebellion in Germany. “That’s why many of us are willing to go a step further, to engage in civil disobedience and to block cities, in order to make this climate disaster attention.” For example, activists disrupt city traffic by staying in groups on the green phase on the pedestrian crossings of main roads are. The actions are not always completely harmless, but above all, many are completely legal: Extinction, Rebellion to set it to break sometimes, specifically, the limits of the law.
For competitors, there is even a 50-page legal aid brochure with explanations of terms such as assault, trespass, resisting law enforcement officers, or of Dangerous interference in road traffic. Only violence, Extinction, Rebellion rejects categorically: “We will use non-violent strategies and methods as the most effective means to bring about changes”, is one of the ten principles of the organization.
Annemarie Botzki (32) of Extinction of Rebellion Germany
No Violence!
“Non-violent Protest is a Form of innocence, even though it violates the law – you’re exposed to the state or the police, if you do hard against it,” says Tobias Eule, Professor of the sociology of Law in Bern and at the Hamburg Institute for social research. “This is a classic strategic resources to a particular discussion trigger.” The Narrative from the violent state which causes its citizens harm, fits of the three claims of Extinction Rebellion: The respective national governments will be asked, the threat posed by climate change and to disclose actions for a net-Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, and to let a citizens ‘ Assembly on measures to be taken for climate justice to decide. More concrete political demands, there is not.
Historically, Extinction, Rebellion rely on great role models, from Mahatma Gandhi to Rosa Parks: “The American civil rights movement started,” says Tobias the owl in an interview with DW. “Have deliberately provoked in advance agreed arrests and the courts will be forced to talk about the exclusion regime of the Jim Crow laws.” In the fight against racist laws even organizations had been founded, the financed costs of the arrestees in the process. In the UK, a court had spoken of the Extinction-Rebellion-co-founder Roger Hallam ever free – even though he had admitted to the claim “withdrawing your Investments out of fossil fuels” to a wall of the King’s College in London sprayed.
The Brazilian Embassy in London got in August, the rage of the Extinction of Rebellion and a lot of red color
The comrades-in-arms of Extinction, Rebellion, waive the protection of anonymity, and many are even willing to let actions into custody take. How large this proportion is, is impossible to estimate, says activist Botzki in the interview: “A mother who has two children at home, can’t let himself get caught. We are aware that the can not do each and every one.”
Red Lines
What actions are necessary for Extinction of Rebellion still okay, and where a red line is crossed? This is not often the answer not so easy, says Botzki. It is wool, if possible encounter a few people in front of the head, by disrupting individual, or by the fact that actions could be interpreted as violence.
A key requirement of the governments: the extent of the destruction caused by climate change name
Recently, a Statement from the British Extinction Rebellion attention, you wanted the action, “Heathrow Pause”, when the drones illegally in the exclusion zone of the London airport at the height of the head to ascend excited, “neither condone nor condemn”. “Heathrow Pause” is explicitly not an action of Extinction of the Rebellion, the Initiator of the on Friday the beginning and transparent measure announced Roger Hallam, the 53-year-old co-founder of Extinction Rebellion is but. The drones group insured, it would remote to fly the Flight path and under no circumstances likely to endanger human life – however, the Association seems to be the roof to be the action to sensitive. Extinction Rebellion UK wants to threaten the drone pilots, which in the likely event of an arrest, long prison sentences, neither legally nor financially help. A DW-question the motives of the decision remained up to the time of the editorial deadline for this article went unanswered.
Roger Hallam has been employed as a PhD student at King’s College in London with civil disobedience and the target for Extinction Rebellion from the findings of the protest research derived: He wants that 3.5 percent of the population support the movement – that the chances of success increase enormously. The law is set on high and serve well also for the internal mobilization, estimates Tobias the owl: “In General, protest movements are successful when they set important public characters strategically, and then through judicial, administrative, or legislative procedure changes obtain.”
Roger Hallam is an organic farmer, a doctoral student and a pioneer of Extinction Rebellion
In Germany, an action on the edge of the International automotive exhibition is scheduled next. On 7. October starts a worldwide protest week, in which Berlin, Amsterdam, New York and many other cities paralyzed to be. In London a similar action, despite, or perhaps because of hundreds of festival-has meant that the Parliament in may, a symbol declared with the climate emergency.
All fight together
For actions that go beyond the level of the Legal, in addition to, the Extinction of Rebellion criticized quite. Here, however, it is difficult to tell them apart, whether this criticism really applies to the actions of the movement or its objectives. Also Fridays For the Future, were to receive massive criticism due to their strikes during school time, reminiscent of Tobias the owl: “in today’s time, where the excitation capability in the public space is very high, you have to do relatively little to produce a counter-reaction.”
Under the climate protection organizations is the basic goal, anyway, to agree, even if some of the pre-distinguish approaches: The global climate strike on 20. September call up dozens of them together – from the well-established heavyweight Greenpeace, to emerging a newcomer to the Extinction of Rebellion.
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Extinction Rebellion: A Creative Climate ProtestSave Mother Earth!
Protest action in front of the London Skyline From the 15. April had called the protector of the climate of the “Extinction of Rebellion” (English: “Rebellion against extinction”) to a week of action. The largest action was launched on 18. April in the British capital.
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Extinction Rebellion: A Creative Climate ProtestCreative Protest
“Extinction Rebellion”, and in 2018 in England founded, would like to lead a non-violent and creative Protest against global warming. The people are the extinction of their own mass to cause, say the protesters. From this they derive their “Rebellion”.
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Extinction Rebellion: A Creative Climate ProtestRoyal Protest?
Well, it was probably not the Meghan and Harry himself, who shared the seat in protest on London’s Waterloo Bridge. The two members of the British Royal family expect soon to be Junior. What the protesters put the two in the mouth? “Thank you to Extinction Rebellion for the future of our babies.”
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Extinction Rebellion: A Creative Climate ProtestTo the suburban railway glued
The protesters resort to different means. This young man has on 17. April in the Canary Wharf Station in London Wharf glued with super glue to a suburban train.
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Extinction Rebellion: A Creative Climate ProtestCivil Disobedience
The aim of the protest is the public life temporarily, with sit-ins to paralyze. The result is that in London Alone there were more than 400 arrests. The activists want to draw the Public to their side. However, a YouGov survey found that only 36 percent approve of 3561 British people to Protest, 52 percent disapprove of him. The Rest is neutral.
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Extinction Rebellion: A Creative Climate ProtestNaked Facts
The action, the “Extinction Rebellion” probably the world has made known: 1. April – during one of the many, heated Brexit-debates – were activists, half-naked on the visitors ‘ platform of the British house of Commons. So they wanted to draw the attention away from Brexit and the warming of the climate. The naked Protest was quickly resolved by Security.
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Extinction Rebellion: A Creative Climate ProtestWorld-Wide Protest
“Extinction Rebellion” has its roots in London, but also in other large cities climate activists participating in the Protest, such as here at the upper tree bridge in Berlin.
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Extinction Rebellion: A Creative Climate ProtestBlockade in New York
Also in New York, many friends of the Environment to protest during the week of action peacefully. Their message: those Who do nothing to stop climate change, commits mass murder.