Shock tactics: do direct action protests work?

Ever since suffragette Emily Davison threw herself in front of King George V’s horse at the Epsom Derby of 1913, direct action protests have become a way of expressing discontent when all other democratic avenues have been exhausted. Of course, Davison is an extreme example. But all over the world, campaigners for various causes are [...]

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Wake up, freak out – then get a grip

Speaking of Leo Murray, when he’s not clambering up on the roof of Westminster Palace to protest against airport expansion, he’s making fantastic short animated films.
‘Wake Up, Freak Out – Then Get A Grip’ explains the global warming issue in language even my Nan can understand. And if that doesn’t interest you, there’s a polar [...]

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Going, going, gone… sinking cities

Venice, a city threatened by rising sea levels, has suffered its worst flooding in 22 years.
Water burst the banks of the famed canals amid heavy rain, leaving some parts of the historic city neck-deep in water and waves lapping at the cafe tables in St Mark’s Square.

Last year UNESCO warned that [...]

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The law will not tolerate vigilantes: Plane Stupid found guilty of tresspassing

Guilty: the ‘Westminster Five’ climate change campaigners who embarrassed Mr Brown by staging a rooftop protest at the House of Commons have – surprise, surprise – been done for trespassing.
The campaigners, from the environmental network Plane Stupid, scaled the roof in February to protest against the proposed expansion of Heathrow airport. They had put forward [...]

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