Climate activists must target power structures, not the public | Letters

Dr Laura Thomas-Walters, Tim Williamson and Paul Chandler respond to Jack Shenker's article that asked if the disruptive tactics of groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil are workingI am an environmental social scientist and climate activist. As Jack Shenker describes in his article (The existential question for climate activists: have disruption tactics stopped working?, 6 March), Extinction Rebellion's recent decision to stop disrupting the public caused quite a fuss. Some people applauded the move as they thought it would favourably shift public opinion, while others insisted public disruption needs to remain a primary tactic to garner wider attention.Unfortunately, both camps are missing the point - once you have enough dedicated activists, the public is largely irrelevant to achieving political change. It is not the opinion, or even attention, of the public that matters, it is whether or not you are disrupting structures of power. Historical social movements have shown this repeatedly. Continue reading...