Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
 | Online Publication Date: 21 Feb 2006
Manufactured Vulnerability: Eco-Activist Tactics in Britain
Manufactured Vulnerability: Eco-Activist Tactics in Britain
Page Range: 75 – 89
This article examines the development of tactics in radical environmentalist protests against new roads and other environmental issues in Britain during the 1990s. These tactics depend heavily upon the technical creativity of protesters. Their repertoire has been influenced by British traditions of non-violent direct action and by tactics used previously by radical environmentalists in other countries, notably Australia. This form of non-violent direct action is defined here as manufactured vulnerability because of its reliance on technical devices to prolong vulnerability. Much evidence in this case confirms past studies of how new action forms are developed. Evidence also suggests that development of tactics in radical environmental groups is particularly likely to be influenced by latent networks of activists and cross-national diffusion.
Tarrow, Sidney. 1994. Power in Movement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Anon. 1998d. "No Escape from Patriarchy: Male Dominance on Site." Do or Die: Voices from Earth First 7: 10-13.
McAdam, Doug. 1996. "The Framing Function of Movement Tactics". Pp. 338-355 in Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements, Doug McAdam, John McCarthy, and Mayer Zald, eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
McAdam, Doug, and Rucht, Dieter. 1993. "The Cross-National Diffusion of Movement Ideas." Annals of the American Academy of Political, and Social Science 528: 56-74.
Maguire, Diarmuid. 1992. "When the Streets Begin to Empty." West European Politics 15 (4): 75-94.
McKay, George. 1996. Senseless Acts of Beauty: Cultures of Resistance since the Sixties. London: Verso.
McKay, George. 1998. "DiY Culture: Notes Towards an Intro." Pp. 1-53 in DiY Culture: Party, and Protest in Nineties Britain, George McKay, ed. London: Verso.
Purkiss, Jonathon. 1996. "Daring to Dream: Idealism in the Philosophy, Organization, and Campaigning Strategies of Earth First" Pp. 197-217 in. To Make Another World: Studies in Protest, and Collective Action, Chris Barker, and Paul Kennedy, eds. Aldershot: Avebury.
Road Alert 1997. Road Raging: Top Tips for Wrecking Roadbuilding. Newbury.
Rochon, Thomas. 1990. Mobilizing for Peace: Anti-Nuclear Movements in Western Europe. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Roseneil, Sasha. 1995. Disarming Patriarchy: Feminism, and Political Action at Greenham. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Rucht, Dieter. 1990. "The Strategies, and Action Repertoires of New Movements." Pp. 156-175 in Challenging the Political Order, Russell Dalton, and Manfred Kuechler, eds. Cambridge: Polity.
Foreman, Dave, and Bill Haywood. 1987. Ecodefense. Tucson, AZ: Ned Ludd Books.
Hunt, Heather. 1995. "Balancing Act: Personal Politics, and Anti-Roads Campaigning." Soundings 1: 123-138.
Byrne, Paul. 1998. "Nuclear Weapons, and CND." Parliamentary Affairs 51 (3): 424-434.
Seel, Ben. 1997a. "Strategies of Resistance at the Pollok Free State Road Protest Camp." Environmental Politics 6 (4): 108-139.
Seel, Ben. 1997b. "If Not You, Then Who? Earth First in the UK." Environmental Politics 6 (4): 172-179.
Tilly, Charles. 1995. "Contentious Repertoires in Great Britain, 1758-1834." Pp. 15-42 in Repertoires, and Cycles of Collective Action, Mark Traugott, ed. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Traugott, Mark. 1995. "Barricades as Repertoire." Pp. 43-56 in Repertoires, and Cycles of Collective Action, Mark Traugott ed. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Vidal, John. 1998. "Can This Little Lot Really Beat Britain's Nuclear Giant? The Guardian. 28 August.
Vidal, John, and Alex Bellos. 1996. "Protest Lobbies Unite to Guard Rights." The Guardian. 27 August.
Wall, Derek. 1999. Earth First, and the Origins of the Anti-Roads Movement. London: Routledge.
Doherty, Brian. 1999. "Paving the Way: the Rise of Direct Action Against Road-Building, and the Changing Character of British Environmentalism. Political Studies, forthcoming.
Donga, Alex. 1996. "The Rise (and Fall?) of the Eco-Warrior." Do or Die 5: 88-89.
Doyle, Timothy. 1994. "Direct Action in Environmental Conflict in Australia: A Re-Examination of Non-Violent Action." Regional Journal of Social Issues 28: 1-13.
DAM Collective. 1998. Earth First Direct Action Manual. Eugene, OR: SWEF.
Doherty, Brian. 1998. "Opposition to Road-Building." Parliamentary Affairs 51 (3): 370-383.
McLeod, Rhoda. 1998. "Calf Exports at Brightlingsea." Parliamentary Affairs 51 (3): 345-357.
Merrick. 1997. Battle for the Trees. Leeds: godhaven ink.
Anon. 1997d. "Why Reclaim the Streets, and the Liverpool Dockers?" Do or Die: Voices from Earth First 6: 10-11.
Anon. 1997e. "Reclaim the Streets" Do or Die: Voices from Earth First 6: 1-6.
Anon. 1998a. "Gathering Force." Do or Die: Voices from Earth First 7: 139-144.
Anon. 1998b. "Personality Politics: the Spectacularisation of Fairmile." Do or Die: Voices from Earth First 7: 35-37.
Anon. 1998c. "In the Dungeons of Fortress Europe." Do or Die: Voices from Earth First 7: 129-31.
Kriesi, Hans Peter, Ruud Koopmans, Jan W. Duyvendak, Marco G. Giugni. 1995. New Social Movements in Western Europe: A Comparative Analysis. London: UCL Press.
McAdam, Doug. 1983. "Tactical Innovation, and the Pace of Insurgency." American Sociological Review 48: 735-754.
Anon. 1998e. "Green Fort versus Mean Port." Do or Die: Voices from Earth First 7: 97-99.
Hall, Sarah. 1998. "AWI Members Transform into Eco-Warriors to Fight Blot on the Landscape." The Guardian. 24 November.
Carey, Jim. 1995. "Towers of Strength." Squall 9: 18-22.
McAdam, Doug. 1995 "Initiator, and Spin-Off Movements: Diffusion Processes in Protest Cycles." Pp. 217-239 in Repertoires, and Cycles of Collective Action, Mark Traugott, ed. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Byrne, Paul. 1997. Social Movements in Britain. London: Routledge.
Anon. 1997a. "Life on the Battle Star: A Personal Account." Do or Die: Voices from Earth First 6: 82-86.
Anon. 1997b. "What's on in Germany: From Autonomen to Zeitgeist." Do or Die: Voices from Earth First 6: 109-110.
Anon. 1997. "The Empire Strikes Back." Do or Die: Voices from Earth First 6: 136-142.
Tarrow, Sidney. 1995. "Cycles of Collective Action". Pp. 89-116 in Repertoires, and Cycles of Collective Action, Mark Traugott, ed. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.