THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT

The Environmental Movement

The Environmental Movement

Question 1

Greenpeace Strategy

Bearing witness as a form of direct action has a long history as party of the Quaker tradition. It has strong spiritual element regarding the importance of observing injustice wherever it occurs and is used to dramatic effect by groups such as Greenpeace. As Wapner states; when Greenpeace confronts whalers on the high seas or blocks railway cars carrying toxic substances or plugs up industrial discharge pipes, it is attesting to what it believes is ecological injustice. Greenpeace is trying to create an image of ecological abuse which can be broadcast through the media to the widest possible throughout the world to known about ecological dangers and try to pique their sense of outrage. The positive reaction to such acts of bearing witness by greenpeace has been substantial, with the issues involved receiving extensive media attention and some governments and industry response. Moreover, the high profile of these actions and the explicit adherence to an ethos of nonviolence have increased the acceptability of direct action in the public's mind.

However, bearing witness although it has its political uses, must be regarded by anarchists as limited due to the fact that it relies disproportionately for its effectiveness on the mass media to communicate the message that the individual or small group of activists are bearing witness to. It is quite likely that media reports of actions may not be favorable to the aims of the groups involved (Hart, 1997, pp. 41-49). Furthermore, merely showing a wider public the self-evident wring through bearing witness to it may be a necessary part of campaign for change.

Obstruction, like bearing witness has a worth tradition. The core idea of this type of direct action is to thwart or obstruct those involved in the action or process that ...