A contrarian campaign to vaccinate the planet
How can governments do a better job of persuading people to get vaccinated?
The COVID vaccination drive is a key part of the campaign of the century. So it makes an interesting live case study for anyone interested in designing and running campaigns.
Dive in.
Yanis Varoufakis, Noam Chomsky and Ann Pettifor on a green future beyond capitalism [video]
“There is no alternative”, “it’s the end of history” are just two examples of what we have been hearing now for decades. But is either of these statements actually true?
In the shadow of the 2008 financial crash, the environmental crisis and ongoing COVID19 pandemic, never has the hubris of these words been more striking.
So, if we are in fact at the end of an era, what comes next?
In this fascinating session of DiEM25’s Alternative Climate conference (Cop Off), Yanis Varoufakis, Noam Chomsky and Ann Pettifor uncover the exciting possibilities that the future can hold beyond capitalism.
DiEM25 condemns arrest of Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez
DiEM25 strongly condemns the arrest of Khurram Parvez, a prominent defender of human rights in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
Parvez was detained on November 22 by the Indian counterterrorism agency in Srinagar and transferred to New Delhi for further questioning.
The activist has been documenting human rights violations, enforced disappearances, tortures, unmarked graves and extrajudicial killings in the region as programme coordinator for the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS).
He faces multiple terrorism charges, including those under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act that allow for detention without trial for extended periods, which are increasingly being used to target journalists, critics, peaceful protesters and human rights defenders across India.
We call on the Indian government to immediately release Khurram Parvez and others detained on political charges and to cease arbitrary detention and prosecution of persons exercising their civil and political rights under the guise of anti-terror legislation.
Western Hypocrisy
The Indian government’s unilateral annulment of Kashmir’s limited autonomy in August 2019 – effectively an annexation – was largely ignored as an “internal affair” by Western leaders.
Kashmiris are now under further assault, with moves on property ownership and residency rights that will significantly alter land tenure and demographics in the region.
These actions have had no effect on the West’s continued political, economic and military support to Modi’s India.
Contrast this to the continued denunciation of China’s mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims: yet another proof of double standards by Western leaders and media, with “support” of human rights for ethnic and religious minorities being nothing but empty posturing to be used according to their interests.
As a movement seeking to democratise Europe, we call on individuals, activists, trade unions and civil society organisations to condemn human rights abuses in Kashmir, and demand that our governments do the same. We need to loudly, boldly and firmly say: enough is enough!
Photo (c) Khurram Parvez Facebook page
DiEM25 supports the #NoTechForApartheid campaign
Buried deep below the headlines about the bombs falling on Gaza was the announcement that Google and Amazon have been jointly awarded a massive contract with the Israeli military.
It stipulates an initial investment of over a billion euros for the construction of cloud storage in Israel and provision of cloud-based services to the Israeli army, the Israel Land Authority, and other government agencies.
With facial recognition technology, artificial intelligence and vast amounts of cloud storage, Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Israeli mainland may soon find themselves under a similar level of surveillance and restrictions as the Uyghurs in Western China, unable to pass checkpoints or drive on certain roads because a computer doesn’t like their face.
Cloud technology would also allow Israel to more completely surveil Palestinians in Gaza, or to more easily enforce segregated settlements. They have called this Project Nimbus.
Employees of Google and Amazon are rising up against this misuse of the technology they build. Last month, around 400 of them signed this open letter. By now there are over a thousand workers involved, using the hashtag #NoTechForApartheid (given that even Human Rights Watch has recognised Israel as an apartheid state).
They demand that Google and Amazon pull out of Project Nimbus, which is nothing more than an attempt to profit from apartheid, oppression, violence and war.
DiEM25 supports these employees and joins them in their demand for Google and Amazon to scrap this project.
Our official position on Israel-Palestine included a demand for an immediate embargo on technology transfers into Israel, well aware that these would increase the Israeli state’s ability to segregate and selectively deny rights.
Apart from that, it is against the interest of Israeli citizens that vast amounts of data on them should wind up in the hands of unaccountable behemoths like Google and Amazon, or that computers (mistakenly named “artificial intelligence”) should make decisions regarding their participation in public life. For more on DiEM25’s position on these issues, read our policy paper on Technological Sovereignty.
In short, we must stop Project Nimbus. Our full support to the brave workers at Google and Amazon who are saying #NoTechForApartheid!
It’s official: this year #BlackFriday is #MakeAmazonPay day
Amazon faces strikes and protests throughout its supply chain and across 25 countries on Black Friday, organised by the Make Amazon Pay campaign.
Today, Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, Amazon faces strikes of warehouse workers and delivery drivers in Germany, Italy and France and supportive protests in a further 22 countries around the world, in actions coordinated by the Make Amazon Pay coalition.
The Make Amazon Pay coalition, which is co-convened by UNI Global Union and the Progressive International, is made up over 70 trade unions, civil society organisations, environmentalists and tax watchdogs including UNI Global Union, the Progressive International, DiEM25, Oxfam, Greenpeace, 350.org, Tax Justice Network and Amazon Workers International.
The coalition demands Amazon pays its workers fairly and respects their right to join unions, pays its fair share of taxes and commits to real environmental sustainability.
Make Amazon Pay was launched a year ago as 50 organisations came together to deliver a set of Common Demands on the two trillion dollar company, holding strikes and protests in 16 countries around the world on November 27 2020.
This year’s actions are much larger with strikes and protests taking place in multiple cities in at least 25 countries across every inhabited continent on earth. The global day of action will bring together activists from different struggles – labour, environment, tax, data, privacy, anti-monopoly – as trade unionists, civil society activists and environmentalists hold joint actions.
Members of the public can add their name to the Common Demands, donate to the campaign and find an action near them to join on Black Friday at MakeAmazonPay.com.
Highlights from Make Amazon Pay day include:
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In Germany, warehouse workers on strike, organised by trade union ver.di, and launch in Berlin of new group Amazon Workers against Surveillance, a coalition of Amazon warehouse and tech workers;
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In Italy, warehouse workers on strike and blockading warehouses, organised by trade union Cobas, after Amazon caved into CGIL demands, representing thousands of drivers, who were set to strike on Friday;
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In France, warehouse workers on strike, organised by trade unions Sud Solidaires and CGT, and action by Amis de La Terre in Nantes to celebrate activist victory in stopped Amazon warehouse construction;
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In Canada, activists organised by the Warehouse Workers’ Centre and Niki Ashton MP will protest outside an Amazon warehouse in Brampton, Ontario;
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In Cambodia, garment workers in Amazon’s supply chain will protest outside their shuttered factory in Phnom Penh demanding the $3.6 million severance payments they are owned;
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In the UK, workers and activists protest outside Amazon’s London headquarters;
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In Belgium, workers and activists protest outside the European Parliament in Brussels;
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In the Netherlands, trade union FNV protest at the Alblasserdam shipyard where Jeff Bezos’ mega yacht is under construction;
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In Bangladesh, the garment workers union protest outside two factories, one in Chittagong, one in Dhaka;
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In Austria, activists in Graz protest against the construction of major Amazon facility;
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In the USA, workers and activists protest at a New York City warehouse and workers and activists organised by the Warehouse Worker Resource Center and Athena hold a worker tribunal in Ontario, California;
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In Poland, warehouse workers organised by Amazon Workers International protest outside a Poznan warehouse and Ozzip protest in Warsaw against the sacking of a shop steward;
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In Argentina, environmentalists and civic activists protest at the Axion oil refinery, which runs on Amazon Web Services;
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In South Africa, activists from the Liesbeek Action Campaign protest the construction of Amazon’s regional headquarters on land and water sacred to the Khoisan people, the indigenous people of the region;
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In Australia, workers and activists protest in Sydney;
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In India, the Hawkers Action Committee, representing small businesses and traders, will hold protests in New Delhi, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Bangalore and Thane;
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In Slovakia, workers and activists with protest warehouse working conditions;
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In Spain, environmentalist groups protest in Barcelona against Amazon’s drive towards climate disaster;
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In Brazil, dockers, a group crucial to Amazon’s global logistics empire, protest in solidarity with their fellow workers everywhere;
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In Turkey, workers and activists organised by DISK trade union protest outside a regional headquarters in Istanbul;
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In Colombia, workers and activists protest at a call centre recently opened by Amazon.
Christy Hoffman, UNI Global Union’s General Secretary, said:
“Around the world workers are taking action to demand dignity and respect at Amazon. When workers join together in unions they are unstoppable–the significant gains that Italian drivers and couriers made this week are just the latest example of this. Today we are standing with our allies to Make Amazon Pay. Together, we can reign in the power of Amazon and strengthen our democracies.”
Casper Gelderblom, Make Amazon Pay coordinator at the Progressive International, said:
“Today’s actions show the scale of resistance to Amazon’s exploitation at every link in its chain of abuse. Workers throughout the supply chain are demanding what’s rightfully theirs when even Jeff Bezos admits their labor paid for his recent joy ride to space. From Amazon’s fulfillment centers to its tech hubs, and from garment factories to call centers, workers are joining forces with activist allies to demand justice from a corporation that takes too much and gives too little.”
“Last year, our coalition launched its fight against Amazon’s shocking tax abuse, soaring pollution, and shameless mistreatment of the very people who produce the corporation’s wealth. This year, our strikes and protests stretch across all six inhabited continents. But we are only just beginning. We will continue to raise our voices even louder to Make Amazon Pay.”
Remembering Rosemary Bechler: “What a wonderful life it is!”
We will always remember Rosemary as the positive character that she was. Her passing is a devastating loss for all of us in the Coordinating Collective and DiEM25 as a whole who worked closely with Rosemary and considered her not only a comrade, but a good friend.
This video features excerpts of some of Rosemary’s interventions, and was created in her memory.
And below are short tributes from some of her comrades in the Coordinating Collective, honouring our common fight for democracy and Rosemary’s unfaltering spirit. You can leave your personal message here in our forum.
Thank you, Rosemary, for standing alongside us!
Francesca Martinez
It was an honour to work with and get to know Rosemary over this last year. Her courage and passion were invigorating and inspiring right up until her last hours. She has taught me to never stop fighting for a better world. I look forward to trying to live up to her example and will miss the force of nature that she was.
Patrizia Pozzo
Woman, friend, comrade. Teacher of life for a small piece of the road. Honored to have made it with you and to have learned that kindness is one of the greatest values. It doesn’t need screaming to assert your reasons but on the contrary firmness and calmness.
Fotini Bakadima
Rosemary was an incredible comrade, always there to help, always positive, with a clear and to the point view of things, supportive and an extremely warm person. She was a great pillar not only for our movement and the CC but also as a friend. Rosemary will be greatly missed, her loss left us all feeling alone in our struggle to democratise and change Europe as an essential beacon of light has stopped radiating.
Johannes Fehr
“What a wonderful life it is!” were the words she concluded with in her last emails to me. “I already feel in an exceptionally lucky era of friends and colleagues and comrades.”
As the many quotes from Rosemary show: Her words and the spirit in them will continue to inspire us so we can continue to fight for this wonderful life.
“She was fierce and loyal but also someone who’d keep you on your toes, who wouldn’t tell you platitudes but demand you be the best person (or organisation) you could be.”
Judith Meyer
It is such an honour to have met Rosemary. She was fierce and loyal but also someone who’d keep you on your toes, who wouldn’t tell you platitudes but demand you be the best person (or organisation) you could be. Armed with her iron-set moral compass and great empathy, she was eager to defend whoever seemed weaker, and even more eager to tell both sides that they were silly to be fighting and should just listen to each other really well.
She had this faith, that I envy her for, that everything could be solved through dialogue. And she set out to prove it by bringing vastly different political forces to a single table and ultimately a single campaign. What a woman!
Srećko Horvat
A devastating loss for all of us who worked closely with Rosemary and considered her a good friend. It was around 10 years ago, when my first essay was published at openDemocracy, that I met Rosemary for the first time. Immediately I was infected by her devotion as a diligent editor and someone who was not simply an editor but a spiritus movens of much broader implications.
When she joined DiEM25, from the very first day of its creation back in 2016, I would soon find out that she is, perhaps above all, a comrade in arms and indispensable critical voice who was never too short of a smile, encouragement or uttering uncomfortable truths, always committed to democracy, comradeship and the struggle for a better world. Until the very end. Even though she was terminally ill, she continued to participate in our common struggle literally until her last breath.
And this is one of the lessons I will carry with me as we mourn over the loss of our dear friend. Namely the fact that Rosemary’s commitment and devotion was really contagious, and that we have no other choice but to continue the fight. May she rest in peace, and may we never rest until there is peace.
“Rosemary was a fearless activist disguised as a gentle old lady.”
Erik Edman
“DiEM is one of the preoccupations of my latter days that makes me wish I was immortal”, Rosemary wrote to me in our last correspondence.
She was and will always be a key part of our movement. Her unwavering trust in people’s ability to forge their own lives and futures made her one of the most passionate defenders of our movement’s horizontal features (participatory processes, inclusive debates, grassroots campaigns and so on).
Rosemary was first and foremost a prolific activist, with an impressive track record on the right side of history, from which she drew experiences and sharp analyses that enriched any space she was in; from an event stage to a breakfast coffee chat. It has been a distinct honour to have known and have worked with her.
As far as our DiEM25 is concerned, it is no exaggeration to say Rosemary’s participation shaped it through her work. It therefore follows that for as long as DiEM25 and all the people she touched through her engagement are still around, then we can do our part to ensure her immortality.
“Even though she was terminally ill, she continued to participate in our common struggle literally until her last breath.”
Davide Castro
Fearless, tireless and relentless in the fight for freedom. Emphatic in the pursuit of knowledge and the truth. An intellectual powerhouse who spoke with the certainty that everything is truly uncertain unless we come together to figure it out. Rosemary will be missed by everyone who had the pleasure of knowing her. A true symbol of hope at the end of the tunnel who made one question if what one was seeing was the road to freedom or just another path down business-as-usual.
Mehran Khalili
Rosemary was a fearless activist disguised as a gentle old lady.
She lived for debate, and Rosemary and I had more than a few. I shall miss our very civil, very British exchanges. I learned and grew from each (as well as from one that ended with her bellowing ‘BALDERDASH!’ at me).
I’ll miss her dry wit and quick mind. I’ll miss her ‘thought you might like to meet so-and-so’ emails and ‘FYI’ link lists. I’ll miss her calling in from her book-lined study on Zoom.
Glad to have known you Rosemary.
Yanis Varoufakis
“Such a relief to be working on this with you guys … all the best and sleep much better for all this classy political activity! As I will now!”
That was the last email I received from her. The campaign that she referred to was DiEM25’s recent, and very successful, crusade to save the NHS from further privatisation. It was typical of Rosemary to express gratitude to comrades who owed her so much. And to hint at her own impending long sleep, courtesy of the ‘inconvenient’, as she liked to describe it, disease that would ultimately take her away from us.
I met Rosemary during DiEM25’s inaugural event, after weeks of frantic emailing that made clear her determination to be part of our pan-European movement from day one to her very last breath. Since then she has graced us all with intense support, criticism, ideas, papers, proposals, campaigns – a one-woman movement that chose our movement to motivate.
A true internationalist, combining the virtues of the Suffragettes, the Spanish International Brigades, the Civil Rights movement, every fair and necessary industrial strike there was, Rosemary found the time and the reason to support me personally during my darkest hours. Never stepping back from being critical, she also never failed to shore up my psyche, to strengthen my resolve, indeed to offer material help well beyond what was either expected or even fair.
Rosemary passed too recently for us, for me, for her comrades, to work out a fitting tribute. For now, it will suffice to emphasise her dedication to preventing our movement from becoming top-heavy, to keeping alive its commitment to its grassroots, to enlisting the Dunkirk spirit in our collective struggle.
Sleep well dear Rosemary. We shall not rest until your spirit reaches everyone that can be reached, across Europe and beyond.
Amir Kiyaei
The time too short, but
Your insights far reaching.
In a world permeated by endless fog,
Your vision still shines brightly.
We will continue the path you laid before us,
and walk holding you in our hearts.
List of articles published by Rosemary for DiEM25
Help DiEM25 and mέta help you fight Zuckerberg and his dystopic Meta
A Tale of Two Metas: Help DiEM25’s mέta cancel Zuckerberg’s dystopic Meta.
A message from DiEM25 co-founder Yanis Varoufakis.
We already live in meta, or post, capitalist times. New feudal lords are emerging whose digital platforms, with the help of governments they control, have grown not just into monopolistic markets but, instead, into private digital fiefdoms in which you, we, everybody, are their neo-serfs.
This is why last year DiEM25 set up mέta, our Centre for Postcapitalist Civilisation. In our mission statement we explained its purpose:
“We live in postcapitalist times. They may turn out dystopic, utopic or anything in between. Through art and research, argument and poetry, mέta works to break with a dystopic present to imagine the world anew – to grasp our present historical moment so as to help radical progressive movements find a path from the emergent dismal postcapitalism to one worth fighting, and living, for.”
The most prominent of the techno-feudal lords, Mark Zuckerberg, has already told us what he is planning: To turn Facebook into a 3D metaverse into which people move their lives. A digital world in which they play, work and laugh. A world that he owns and in which we are his digital serfs.
Make no mistake: Zuckerberg, Bezos and Co. are hell-bent on doing exactly that which DiEM25’s mέta was created to prevent: To build a techno-feudal dystopia. And, as if to drive his point home, Zuckerberg announced the first step toward creating it – yes, he will call it… Meta.
So, here we are, staring at a fork in the road:
- We can take DiEM25’s mέta road toward a technologically advanced democratised society, leading one day to a Star Trek-like liberal communism. Or,
- We can surrender to Zuckerberg’s Meta, a techno-dystopia that will lead humanity to a Matrix-like nightmare.
This is where you come in.
To help us help you walk DiEM25’s mέta path, rather than be sucked into Zuckerberg’s META, here are some simple steps you can take:
- Join DiEM25, along with Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Slavoj Zizek, Caroline Lucas and tens of thousands of activists and progressive thinkers.
- Contribute to DiEM25, remembering the zillions Zuckerberg is investing in his dystopia. While we do not need zillions to counter his Meta dystopia, we do need your financial contribution. So, please donate!
It’s DiEM25’s mέta or Zuckerberg’s Meta. Let’s seize the day, or Carpe DiEM. For if you, we, don’t, Zuckerberg certainly will!
More than 100 actors, musicians and authors sign statement against Israel’s attack on Palestinian organisations
Over the past two weeks, Israel has launched an unprecedented and blanket attack on Palestinian human rights defenders beginning with the designation, on 19 October 2021, of six leading Palestinian human rights organisations as “terrorist” groups.
The organisations include: Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Al-Haq Law in the Service of Man (Al-Haq), Bisan Center for Research and Development, Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P), the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC).
Still, despite international condemnation by the UN, international human rights groups, and government officials, the Israeli occupation has doubled down in their crackdown and issued a military order that outlaws, entirely, the six Palestinian organisations in the West Bank.
The designations target six of the most eminent Palestinian human rights defenders engaged in critical human rights work and cover all aspects of civil society in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Addameer serves as one of the biggest organizations providing direct legal support to Palestinian political prisoners.
Al-Haq, the oldest human rights organisation both in Palestine and Middle East, extensively documents international humanitarian law and international human rights law violations in the occupied territory, specialising in individual and corporate accountability. Bisan Center produces extensive research and development reports in support of the poor and marginalized communities.
DCI-P is a local affiliate of an international human rights organisation that works to protect the rights of Palestinian children. The UAWC supports thousands of Palestinian farmers and their families amid the encroachment and violence of illegal Israeli settlements. The UPWC is a feminist, progressive, and grassroots organisation that aims to empower Palestinian women.
The vital work of these six organizations to protect and empower Palestinians and hold Israel accountable for its gross human rights violations and aparthied regime of institutionlised racial discrimination is precisely the work that Israel is trying to end. Israel’s designation of these six Palestinian organisations as “terrorist” groups, and the military order that outlaws them places the safety of the organisations and their staff at imminent risk.
The military order allows for Israeli occupation forces to raid their offices, forcibly shut them down, arbitrarily arrest their staff to be tried under Israeli military courts, and institute other reprisals including travel bans and residency revocations against their members.
The threat of retaliation is real, and puts at risk not just the organizations themselves, but the entire Palestinian civil society and the tens of thousands of Palestinians they serve everyday. To this end, we call on all persons of conscience across the globe to stand with us. We call on the international community to #StandWithThe6 and protect Palestinian human rights defenders, and demand that Israel rescind the terrorist designations immediately.
Photo (c) Jamal Aruri/AFP
This statement is supported by more than 100 signatories. The full list is below:
- Kevin Macdonald, film director, UK
- Peter Gabriel, musician, founder, Womad Festival, UK
- Mike Leigh, film director, UK
- Jodie Evans, film producer, USA
- Robert Wyatt, musician, UK
- Alfreda Benge, artist, UK
- Aki Kaurismaki, film director, Finland
- Liam Cunningham, actor, Ireland
- Susan Sarandon, actor, USA
- Ece Temelkuran, author, Turkey
- Tilda Swinton, actor, UK
- Jim Jarmusch, film director, USA
- Laura Poitras, film director, USA
- Simon Fisher Turner, musician, UK
- Iciar Bollain, film director, Spain
- Kleber Mendonça Filho, film director, Brasil
- Julie Christie, actor, UK
- V (formerly known as Eve Ensler), Playwright, USA
- Mark Ruffalo, actor, USA
- Philip Pullman, author, UK
- Stephen Dillane, actor, UK
- Brian Eno, artist, UK
- Roger Waters, musician, UK
- Ken Loach, film director, UK
- Paul Laverty, writer, UK
- Yann Martel, author, Canada
- AL Kennedy, author, UK
- Naomi Klein, author, Canada
- Robert Guediguian, film director, France
- Asif Kapadia, film director, UK
- Juliet Stevenson, actor, UK
- Yanis Varoufakis, author, Greece
- Peter Kosminsky, film director, UK
- Titi Robin, musician, France
- Etienne Balibar, philosopher, France
- Harriet Walter, actor, UK
- Apichatpong Weerasethakul, film director, Thailand
- Bella Freud, artist, UK
- David Michôd, film director, Australia
- Claire Foy, actor, UK
- Mark Rylance, actor, UK
- Alfonso Cuaron, film director, Mexico
- Thurston Moore, musician, USA
- Jeremy Deller, artist, UK
- Kamila Shamsie, author, UK
- Monica Ali, author, UK
- Eric Cantona, actor, France
- Phil Manzanera, musician, UK
- Laurie Anderson, artist, USA
- Michèle Gavras, producer, France
- Annemarie Jacir, film director, Palestine
- Costa Gavras, film director, Greece
- Juan Diego Botto, actor and playwright, Spain
- Alberto San Juan, actor and playwright, Spain
- Carlos Bardem, actor and writer, Spain
- Residente (René Pérez), singer, artist, writer, film director, Puerto Rico
- Irvine Welsh, author, UK
- Tunde Adebimpe, musician, USA
- David Byrne, musician, USA
- Ohal Grietzer, musician, Israel
- Tai Shani, visual artist, UK
- Hany Abu-Assad, film director, Palestine
- Simon Pegg, actor, UK
- David Mitchell, author, UK
- Mira Nair, film director, India
- Jarvis Cocker, musician, UK
- Fisher Stevens, director, USA
- Leopoldo Gout, artist, USA
- Julio Pérez del Campo, film director, Spain
- Alain Damasio, author, France
- Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, choreographer, Belgium
- Joe Sacco, comic book artist and journalist, USA
- Mercè Sampietro, actor, Spain
- Ian McEwan, author, UK
- Colm Tóibín, author, Ireland
- Elaine Mokhtefi, translator, USA
- Madeleine Thien, author, Canada
- Eliot Weinberger, author, USA
- Sabrina Mahfouz, playwright and poet, UK
- Joel Beinin, professor, USA
- Omar Robert Hamilton, author, UK
- John Oakes, publisher, USA
- Mary Jane Nealon, poet, USA
- Rachel Kushner, author, USA
- Lina Meruane, author, Chile
- Naomi Wallace, playwright, USA
- Rashid Khalidi, author, Palestine
- Ben Ehrenreich, author, USA
- Adam Shatz, Writer, London Review of Books, USA
- Farid Matuk, poet, USA
- Michel Moushabeck, publisher, USA
- Eileen Myles, poet, USA
- Lila Abu-Lughod, Professor, USA
- Natalie Diaz, poet, USA
- Andrew Ross, New York University, USA
- Zeina Azzam, poet, USA
- Bernardine Dohrn, human rights advocate, USA
- Molly Crabapple, author, USA
- Jeffrey Sachs, University Professor at Columbia University, USA
- Bruce Robbins, author, USA
- Shuchi Saraswat, author, USA
- James Schamus, screenwriter and producer, USA
- nancy kricorian, Writer, USA
- Jacqueline Rose, author, UK
- Andrew O’Hagan, author, UK
- Hannah Khalil, playwright, Palestine
- Ritu Menon, publisher, India
- Janne Teller, author, Denmark
- Nicholas Blincoe, author, UK
- Rick Simonson, Bookseller, USA
- Brigid Keenan, author, UK
- Massive Attack, music band
- Richard Gere, actor
How to fix climate activism
This week everyone’s talking climate change and our leaders’ failure to tackle it.
But instead of fixating on what our leaders should be doing differently, I thought it would be interesting to ask how climate activists could improve their work, reach more people, and have more impact.
So I dropped in on Dusan Pajovic. He’s the coordinator of DiEM25’s Green New Deal for Europe campaign, a social psychologist, and a seasoned environmental activist.
He’s also the organiser of the COP OFF! alternative climate conference, which is happening online this weekend. It features speakers like Noam Chomsky, Yanis Varoufakis, Caroline Lucas and many other progressives.
Dusan is very open about what climate activists could be doing differently. We talked about tactics, messaging, and how to bring the working class into climate activism – who have so far been excluded.
I learned a lot from this chat, and I think you will too.
Climate protesters in London in August 2021 (Source: Getty Images)
On bringing in activists from the working class
DUSAN: Environmentalism is not intersectional enough. It has been part of this New Age millennial hipster movement and it isn’t resonating with the working class.
And this is unfortunate because it’s the working class that’s going to feel climate change the most. When it really hits, we won’t all be in the same boat.
Like when the pandemic hit. The rich went to their houses in the middle of nowhere and ordered delivery service. The working class didn’t have that privilege.
With climate change, the working class will be more affected by mass migration. Their homes are more likely to be flooded.
So the working class should be at the front of the battle and not the back.
MEHRAN: In terms of recruiting more working class people to the climate change movement, how would you recruit someone who doesn’t know where their next wage is coming from, whose livelihood has been destroyed by the pandemic? How do you say to them ‘become a climate change activist on top of everything else you’re dealing with’?
DUSAN: People are frustrated and angry and we need to channel their anger towards the right things. Towards those who are responsible. And we have the data that shows who is responsible for climate change – and it’s not immigrants, women, or LGBT people.
We need to make our case to audiences and show them we’re not letting them down by fighting for green issues, but that we’re connecting the dots of climate change and economic change together.
Because only in that way, we can actually do something [about this problem].
MEHRAN: So, you’d say to them that if your job and your livelihood are threatened now, things are going to be much worse in the future. And the reason why, is what you should be working on.
DUSAN: Yes. But we are not working on a single issue. We are fighting for both: the transformation of capitalism into something new, and tackling climate change.
Photo by Karsten Würth (@karsten.wuerth) / Unsplash
On getting strategy right
MEHRAN: Let me bring everything down to the level of this hypothetical working class activist, who you’ve recruited.
Give this activist their mission for the next two months. What can they do during that timeframe that could make a difference?
DUSAN: First we need to raise awareness about all these things. Because we need critical mass.
And then we need to present a programme with concrete steps, and push governments to implement it. As far we can — with petitions, with civil disobedience, with people’s assemblies. And if they don’t implement it, then we need to replace them in elections.
So my advice for that environmental activist would be: get ready for a European Parliament elections in 2024, because that will be the final countdown for climate change.
On civil disobedience and direct action
MEHRAN: Let’s talk about those actions. Fridays For Future [the climate movement started by Greta Thunberg] organised successful school strikes. Are there other tactics that have proven to move things forward, on the climate issue?
DUSAN: I’m big fan of civil disobedience. But of course, it needs to be strategic. It needs to be planned thoroughly, with legal help.
So don’t do it on your own. Find your comrades, organise and protest in the most creative ways you can envision.
There are many examples [of effective, peaceful tactics]. Like the book Blueprint for Revolution. Like [the work of] Radomir Lazovic [founder of Serbian political movement Don’t Let Belgrade Drown], who you interviewed about creative [protest] actions.
These are all effective ways to send the message. Because as it seems, not many people are listening to our conferences and our talks.
MEHRAN: OK. Let’s imagine I’m a decision maker, and it’s within my power to push button 1, which you want me to push, or button 2. Why am I more likely to push button 1, because you’ve managed to gather people for a civil disobedience action?
I understand that such tactics will bring more people to the movement and raise awareness. But let’s separate the idea of growing membership, from what is going to get that decision-maker to push the right button. What will achieve it?
DUSAN: That’s why I said it has to be coordinated and effective. Corporations are today fused with government. We need something that will shake corporations’ economic interests. Because they listen when they lose money.
Look at the Make Amazon Pay campaign [coordinated by DiEM25’s sister organisation Progressive International].
If we gather five million people to not buy anything on Black Friday, it would disrupt them [Amazon]. They will feel it. If their workers on that same day, go on strike, Amazon will lose even more business. So they will see that [the current situation] is unsustainable. He [Jeff Bezos] cannot keep replacing his workers when they go on strike, every time…
MEHRAN: But there you’re still relying on massive numbers getting involved, which is what progressives always rely on. And that’s hard to achieve.
Can we not be more strategic to make that decision maker push the right button? With a smaller number of people, doing a targeted action? Instead of creating a logistical nightmare…
DUSAN: There are examples of that. I personally think we have a lot to learn from animal activism. Like the SHAC campaign [an international animal rights campaign to close down Huntingdon Life Sciences, Europe’s largest contract animal-testing laboratory, in the 2000s]. With a handful of people, they created millions in losses for one company.
SHAC website in 2014.
And the Earth Liberation Front, in the 80s. They inflicted millions in dollars of damage to corporations through different forms of direct action.
These campaigns were very radical though. And they happened a while ago. Nowadays we’ve all been co-opted by social media, thinking we’re activists if we tweet something.
MEHRAN: Right. To be clear, we’re not condoning these tactics, we’re looking at what has been successful and what hasn’t.
DUSAN: Yes.
On negative climate change messaging
Source: Cagle
MEHRAN: Let’s switch gears and talk about messaging.
Climate groups’ messaging seems largely to be: “we’re all fucked, and this is our last chance to fix it”. It’s very negative.
OK, man-made climate change is a reality and it’s urgent. But the way we tell its story seems to be preventing activism on this issue from becoming mainstream. What would you say to that?
DUSAN: Climate change activism is already mainstream. It’s one of the fastest growing social movements. Over 90% of Europeans agree that climate change is real, and that more action should be taken. Especially among youth, Gen Z.
But it’s true that Extinction Rebellion [a prominent climate activism group] doesn’t have high acceptance in Britain [where the group was founded and are most active], according to a recent poll.
So their more radical message, for some reason, isn’t resonating with people that much. Or at least their actions.
On tailoring the message to target corporations
Photo by veeterzy / Unsplash
MEHRAN: You’ve named corporations as villains in this story. So why don’t we see more messaging from climate activists towards corporations explaining how climate change is going to impact their bottom line, their share price, their interests? [The UN proposes this approach in this communications guide on climate activism.]
DUSAN: I think [for corporations] it’s about the profit right now and not in the long run.
A circular economy [an economic model designed to minimise resource input, waste and emissions] would make them more profit — but they don’t care.
On cutting through the noise
MEHRAN: You know the information environment we live in at the moment. You’re aware of the collapse of the media’s business model and the rise of social media and the polarisation of opinion.
And it sucks; it’s bad for our discourse. But that’s where we are today.
Now, much of the current strategy for climate activism seems to be based on persuading people, giving them the facts. As we navigate this ‘post-truth’ era, isn’t it getting increasingly hard to do that, and thus to enlist more activists to the cause, get decisions changed at high level? Isn’t it going to make progress difficult?
DUSAN: I hear you. That’s why I think that we need a different approach. We need to be more personal regarding people’s stories and give concrete examples, not just facts. We need to listen to their problems and then explain how climate change will affect their own lives, and why they need to join together to tackle it.
Personal stories are not easy to source for activists, but we need to work on it. We need to be caring and listening and empathetic. And start incorporating feedback from people.
Look at the rise of the right. How is it happening? Because they say “yes, we hear that you’re afraid”. They channel people’s anger wrongly — like towards immigrants.
But in the first place, it’s because they listen to people. We need to start doing the same.
A protester at COP26 in November 2021 (Source: Sky)
COP OFF, DiEM25’s alternative climate conference, takes place from November 14 to 16. Read more about it here.