The Power of Protest Tactics: ‘Just Do It’ | Dissident Voice

The Power of Protest Tactics: ‘Just Do It’ | Dissident Voice

The Power of Protest Tactics: ‘Just Do It’

by Adam W. Parsons

Non-violent direct action is not the most glamorous occupation in the world. Unpaid overtime, long hours, maligned by a biased mainstream media, widely misunderstood by the middle classes and opposed by a heavy state apparatus, who could be blamed for thinking environmental activism to be a mugs game. But when the audience at a London preview of ‘Just Do It: A Tale of Modern Day Outlaws’ was asked if they had been inspired to take up direct action after watching the film, many hands waved in the air.
The documentary follows the exploits of climate activists in the UK during the run up to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in 2009, giving an unprecedented insight into the passion and motives of those who risk arrest in the name of environmental justice. Focusing on six different individuals within the movement, filmmaker Emily James submerged herself in the networks of Climate Camp and Plane Stupid over the period of a year to document their clandestine activities. The result is a roving, humorous and motivating account of the tireless energy that sees mostly young, twenty-something protesters close down banks, prevent airport expansion, and

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