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The chapter engages with the notion of ‘political refrain’, adapted from the work of Gilles Deleu... more The chapter engages with the notion of ‘political refrain’, adapted from the work of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, to offer some reflections on the strengths and limitations of protest camps in the action repertoire available to social movements. In the present study, ‘camping’ was a recurring thematic for British environmental protest, especially in the mobilisations of the Camp for Climate Action. Camps played more than a simple organisational role and signified a desire to prefigure alternative social and ecological configurations. The camp-form, however, took on a logic of its own, locking the protest movement into repertoire dependency, which signified the problematic tension between organisational continuity and tactical innovation. Unable to resolve this tension, and with British climate activism so fundamentally tied to the imaginary of the protest camp, the emergence of a new political praxis was prevented.
Environmental Politics, 2012
"Despite a peak in activism against climate change in the UK, new environmental direct action ne... more "Despite a peak in activism against climate change in the UK, new
environmental direct action networks have not yet received much academic
attention. Taking perhaps the most prominent of such networks – the
Camp for Climate Action – which held several high-profile protest events
between 2006 and 2011 as a case study, and using a theoretical framework
that understands society as being distinctly ‘post-political’ in character, we
ask questions about the knowledge claims that form the foundations of
radical environmental politics. Drawing on published statements and press
releases, as well as from our insights as active participants in the Camp, we
analyse the strategy of environmental protest where climate change has
become its focus. The Camp for Climate Action was a contested political
arena. We argue that the Camp’s strategy was characterised by ‘scientised’,
‘post-political’ politics which operated within an ethical framework that
prescribed individual responsibility as the primary basis for action."
Environmental Politics, 2012
Despite a peak in activism against climate change in the UK, new environmental direct action netw... more Despite a peak in activism against climate change in the UK, new environmental direct action networks have not yet received much academic attention. Taking perhaps the most prominent of such networks – the Camp for Climate Action – which held several high-profile protest events between 2006 and 2011 as a case study, and using a theoretical framework that understands society as being distinctly ‘post-political’ in character, we ask questions about the knowledge claims that form the foundations of radical environmental politics. Drawing on published statements and press releases, as well as from our insights as active participants in the Camp, we analyse the strategy of environmental protest where climate change has become its focus. The Camp for Climate Action was a contested political arena. We argue that the Camp's strategy was characterised by ‘scientised’, ‘post-political’ politics which operated within an ethical framework that prescribed individual responsibility as the primary basis for action.
The chapter engages with the notion of ‘political refrain’, adapted from the work of Gilles Deleu... more The chapter engages with the notion of ‘political refrain’, adapted from the work of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, to offer some reflections on the strengths and limitations of protest camps in the action repertoire available to social movements. In the present study, ‘camping’ was a recurring thematic for British environmental protest, especially in the mobilisations of the Camp for Climate Action. Camps played more than a simple organisational role and signified a desire to prefigure alternative social and ecological configurations. The camp-form, however, took on a logic of its own, locking the protest movement into repertoire dependency, which signified the problematic tension between organisational continuity and tactical innovation. Unable to resolve this tension, and with British climate activism so fundamentally tied to the imaginary of the protest camp, the emergence of a new political praxis was prevented.
Environmental Politics, 2012
"Despite a peak in activism against climate change in the UK, new environmental direct action ne... more "Despite a peak in activism against climate change in the UK, new
environmental direct action networks have not yet received much academic
attention. Taking perhaps the most prominent of such networks – the
Camp for Climate Action – which held several high-profile protest events
between 2006 and 2011 as a case study, and using a theoretical framework
that understands society as being distinctly ‘post-political’ in character, we
ask questions about the knowledge claims that form the foundations of
radical environmental politics. Drawing on published statements and press
releases, as well as from our insights as active participants in the Camp, we
analyse the strategy of environmental protest where climate change has
become its focus. The Camp for Climate Action was a contested political
arena. We argue that the Camp’s strategy was characterised by ‘scientised’,
‘post-political’ politics which operated within an ethical framework that
prescribed individual responsibility as the primary basis for action."
Environmental Politics, 2012
Despite a peak in activism against climate change in the UK, new environmental direct action netw... more Despite a peak in activism against climate change in the UK, new environmental direct action networks have not yet received much academic attention. Taking perhaps the most prominent of such networks – the Camp for Climate Action – which held several high-profile protest events between 2006 and 2011 as a case study, and using a theoretical framework that understands society as being distinctly ‘post-political’ in character, we ask questions about the knowledge claims that form the foundations of radical environmental politics. Drawing on published statements and press releases, as well as from our insights as active participants in the Camp, we analyse the strategy of environmental protest where climate change has become its focus. The Camp for Climate Action was a contested political arena. We argue that the Camp's strategy was characterised by ‘scientised’, ‘post-political’ politics which operated within an ethical framework that prescribed individual responsibility as the primary basis for action.