Sep 1, 2021-2021
United Kingdom
Extinction Rebellion protesters break bail terms for City protest
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ACTIVISTS/ACT.GROUPS/DESCRIPTION OF THE GROUP
Extinction Rebellion
TARGET
City of London
WIDELY HELD BELIEF
Bail orders that outlaw peaceful demonstrations are unjust.
CASE NARRATIVE
Issue and Opponent: The Bank of England was targeted by the Extinction Rebellion group because the bank remitted its decision to stop financing fossil fuel industries. Given that the Bank was a public institution, the Extinction Rebellion held the Prime Minister and the Bank’s governor responsible as well.
Dilemma Action: The movement had many protestors who were previously charged for their peaceful demonstrations. Under their bail conditions, they would not be permitted to enter the London financial district during the mass demonstration. Regardless, the protestors believed that the Bank’s decision to continue investing in fossil fuel technology despite a previous commitment not to do so was grounds for protest, despite the violations of the bail conditions. Protesters emphasized that the fact that their actions of peacefully protesting were criminalized was quite ironic given the fact that what they were protesting (environmental damage) was not considered criminal.
Outcome: There was no response from the bank or politicians to this specific protest. Extinction Rebellion is a campaign dedicated to climate action.
PRIMARY STRUGGLE/GOAL
NONVIOLENT TACTICS USED
DA TACTICS USED
Popular nonobedience
CASE NARRATIVE WRITER
SUCCESS METRICS
8 / 12
(EREP) Dilemma action got replicated by other movements
(MC) Media Coverage
(MSYMP) Media coverage was sympathetic to the activists
(OR) Opponent response
(PS) Dilemma action built sympathy with the public
(PUN) Punishment favored the activists
(REFR) Dilemma action reframed the narrative of the opponent
(RF) Dilemma action reduced fear and/or apathy among the activists
PART OF A LARGER CAMPAIGN
1 / 3
Activist group continued working together after the action
RESOURCES
Project documentation
Dilemma Actions Coding Guidebook
Case study documentation
Dilemma_Actions_Analysis_Dataset
SOURCES
Gayle, Damien. 2021. “Extinction Rebellion protesters break bail terms for City protest.” The Guardian, September 2. Retrieved July 23, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/02/extinction-rebellion-protesters-break-bail-terms-for-city-protest
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/extinction-rebellion-day02-campaign010000644.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALzemjqFfWTFHhP2hrS_oBOvzC8BmlMqaTWeCIJXB9cnaGNbYBYs20jlY-epEJ719Q4WFv-Z-LWn4oy46Xjps5Hdi4POscw1LCJh9ILenv8HkmxIZa6MYR7k5w8sklVlNJimhA7oavYETuIC2SzmklOMO5-RXmpMCthzcrgZm9Aa. Accessed April 15, 2022.
Extinction Rebellion. 2021. “‘Arrested for caring’ – over 50 people break police bail to call on the Bank of England to step up.” Extinction Rebellion, September 2. Retrieved July 23, 2023. https://extinctionrebellion.uk/2021/09/02/arrested-for-caring-over-50-people-break-police-bail-to-call-on-the-bank-of-england-to-step-up/
Russel-Jones, Lily. 2021. “Extinction Rebellion blocks roads outside Bank of England.” City A.M., September 2. Retrieved July 23, 2023. https://www.cityam.com/extinction-rebellion-block-roads-bank-of-engalnd/
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