[WSMDiscuss] Fwd: URGENT SIGN ON: Letter to Extinction Rebellion and the environmental movement (UK) / Debate on Extinction Rebellion (Tadzio Mueller)

Thu Apr 25 09:36:45 CEST 2019

Hi there, 

Just wanted to comment briefly on these current critiques of XR, and give a perspective from the ground. I was priveliged to stand with my XR brothers and sisters in Central London last week where I was arrested with over a thousand others. My very good friend is currently remanded in custody for a month and faces a significant jail sentence for his activism.

I thought it might be useful for list members to know that the movement is organising in a truly leaderless way unlike many of the organisations who are co-signatories of this letter, and from what I have witnessed are acutely aware of their privelige. I was present at a Collective Visioning session (held in the centre of an occupied Oxford Circus) where we were addressed by a representative of La Vía Campesina. The participants then deliberated on how best their local groups might better engage in solidarity with struggles in the global South. These ideas have now been brought to our respective groups to be acted upon. I can report a real appetite and commitment to engaging in this solidarity work. 

I have no doubt the letter to XR will be received with humility and reflected upon contientiously by XR groups. I would however suggest we pause and reflect ourselves, from our often priveliged positions (whether that be in the North or South) and consider why we are not standing in solidarity with these brothers and sisters who are putting their bodies on the line for us all. Critique is important to be sure, but so is solidarity, and I question the motivation of some of the (far from leaderless) organisations who have so eagerly signed this letter. 

With love and solidarity. 
Matt 

-- 
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25 Apr 2019, 03:16 by jai.sen at cacim.net:

>
> Wednesday, April 24, 2019
>
>
> Climate in movement…, Ideas in movement…
>
>
> [The movement called XR – Extinction Rebellion – is bothspreading and also getting a lot of media attention, especially in theNorth.  In this context - and as I understand it from the letter I amposting here -, “Wretched of the Earth, a London-based collective of activistsoriginally from the South” has written a letter to “Extinction Rebellion (XR)and the wider environmental movement in the UK/Global North”, asking some hardquestions.  In turn, the post says, 
>
>
> "> Some grassroots groups across the movement in the UK [who] thoughtit was important to jointly suggest a different approach [have] drafted aletter which can be read > here <https://docs.google.com/document/d/19DpVsXCDwQ9ODGIeS0ZJD0Qtmj_o3Ya6KHEhOUPtY7Q/edit>> .”
>
>
> [I’m therefore posting here, for the information of thosewho have not seen this and for discussion, the Open Letter for sign-on that hasbeen prepared by the latter group; in short, raising some hard questions of XR and the wider environmental movement in the UK/GlobalNorth.  This letter is already in some discussion on lists among concernedpeople in India, and perhaps also elsewhere.  (For those who mighthave wanted to sign on to the Open Letter however, I apologise for posting thisa little late, but I now see that the deadline was this evening, British time.)
>
>
> [To know about Extinction Rebellion, see > https://rebellion.earth/ <https://rebellion.earth/>
>
>
> [Just to add some thoughts and questions, the letter I’m postinghere seems to take the position that it also represents the views of IndigenousPeoples.  But I’m not quite sure – but only by looking at the list ofsignatories, which I know is not always an adequate way of knowing - wheretheir legitimacy to do so is coming from.  Or, for that matter, toalso represent labouring peoples in struggle across the South, in general,whose struggles are also invoked.  But since the claim of moral and socialauthority is there, in a subject like this this is a vital question.
>
>
> [I also find it striking, and worrying, that even as itraises some systemic and structural questions, this Open Letter does notmention the absence in what Extinction Rebellion is demanding – as far as I cansee – of a critique of the military and of militarisation (and here, in termsof its impact on climate), on two grounds : One, where the US military for instanceis by far the largest contributor to carbon emissions in the world (see, forinstance, > https://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/23/72279/ <https://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/23/72279/>> );and on the other hand, where - and even in terms of any serious and sustainedrebellion against what is happening in our times - it is the military alonethat already has a plan for how to contain the unrest that is already openingup as a result of climate changes (see, for instance, > https://www.thenation.com/article/the-future-of-climate-change-is-widespread-civil-war/ <https://www.thenation.com/article/the-future-of-climate-change-is-widespread-civil-war/>> ;and for the Pentagon’s plans, > http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/jun/12/pentagon-mass-civil-breakdown <http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/jun/12/pentagon-mass-civil-breakdown>> ,and also one of their own documents :
>
>
> CNAMilitary Advisory Board, May 2014 – ‘National Security and the AcceleratingRisks of Climate Change’> .  Alexandria, VA : CNACorporation.  Accessed js 24.04.2019 @ > https://www.cna.org/cna_files/pdf/MAB_5-8-14.pdf <https://www.cna.org/cna_files/pdf/MAB_5-8-14.pdf>
>
>
> [I’m also forwarding here, further on below, an as-alwaysspirited critical engagement with XR by Tadzio Mueller, who is deeply engagedwith climate actions in Germany including with two of the signatories, Ende Geländeand Hambach Forest occupations, and raises important questions. (Apologies to those on CJN! in particular, forrepetition !) :
>
>
> Letter to Extinction Rebellion and the environmentalmovement (UK)
>  > Decolonising our minds, Platform EndeGelände, London Latinxs, Healing Justice London,>  > Reclaim the Power, DecolonisingEnvironmentalism, The Leap, and others 
>
> Debate on Extinction Rebellion
>
>
> Tadzio Mueller
>
>
>          >    Thanksfor circulating the Open Letter, Souparna, and for your post, Tadzio !
>
>
>             JS
>
>
>
>
>
> fwd
>
>
>> Begin forwarded message:
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
>> From: >> Souparna Lahiri>>  >> <>> souparna.lahiri at gmail.com <mailto:souparna.lahiri at gmail.com>>> >
>> Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2019 at 23:35
>> Subject: Fwd: [demandclimatejustice] URGENT SIGN ON: Letter to Extinction Rebellion and the environmental movement (UK)
>> To: climate justice <>> indiaclimatejustice at gmail.com <mailto:indiaclimatejustice at gmail.com>>> >, Coalition for Environmental Justice in India <>> coalition-for-environmental-justice-in-india at googlegroups.com <mailto:coalition-for-environmental-justice-in-india at googlegroups.com>>> >
>>
>
> FYI
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> From: > Nathan Thanki>  > <> thanki.nathan at gmail.com <mailto:thanki.nathan at gmail.com>> >
> Date: Wed, 24 Apr 2019 at 05:25
> Subject: [demandclimatejustice] URGENT SIGN ON: Letter to Extinction Rebellion and the environmental movement (UK)
> To: > demandclimatejustice at googlegroups.com <mailto:demandclimatejustice at googlegroups.com>>  <> demandclimatejustice at googlegroups.com <mailto:demandclimatejustice at googlegroups.com>> >
>
> Dear > DCJ friends,
>
> Wretched of the Earth, a London-based collective of activists originally from the South, has written an open letter addressing Extinction Rebellion (XR) and the wider environmental movement in the UK/Global North.
>
> For those of you who may not be aware, Extinction Rebellion have injected newfound energy and enthusiasm into the climate debate in the North, but have also been heavily critiqued for their messaging, their strategy, and their failure to involve groups working on issues related to climate justice, such as housing, employment, health, migrant and refugee rights etc. 
>
> Some grassroots groups across the movement in the UK thought it was important to jointly suggest a different approach and drafted a letter which can be read > here <https://docs.google.com/document/d/19DpVsXCDwQ9ODGIeS0ZJD0Qtmj_o3Ya6KHEhOUPtY7Q/edit>>  
>
> They>  are > now > asking > groups > outside the UK to> :
> 1. Comment on the draft letter and co sign > as an organisation > if you agree
> 2. > Share ideas for>  how>  > to address > Extinction Rebellion>  if they > engage
> 3. > Reply>  before > Wednesday>  at 5pm>  BST
>
> If you reply to me I can collect signatures, comments, and forward to Wretched of the Earth. Hope many DCJ members can engage as these trends are going to continue and possibly intensify. 
>
> -- 
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>
> -- 
> Souparna Lahiri
> 143 Khirki Village
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> India
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>
>
>> Begin forwarded message:
>>
>> From: >> "Mueller, Tadzio" <>> Tadzio.Mueller at rosalux.org <mailto:Tadzio.Mueller at rosalux.org>>> >
>> Subject: >> [climate justice now!] Debate on Extinction Rebellion
>> Date: >> April 24, 2019 at 9:57:15 AM EDT
>> To: >> Eduardo Giesen A. <>> cjn at lists.riseup.net <mailto:cjn at lists.riseup.net>>> >
>> Reply-To: >> "Mueller, Tadzio" <>> Tadzio.Mueller at rosalux.org <mailto:Tadzio.Mueller at rosalux.org>>> >
>>
>
>
> Friends and comrades,
>
> there’s a spirited debate on some lists about the CJ-politics of XR (or lack thereof), and I wanted to get it going on this list, too.
>
> Here’s an opening salvo:
>
> I've been watching XR in germany quite intently, and would > summarise their potential>  (whatever their actual reality, which varies a lot, even between local base groups in different cities): in northern countries where there is a tradition of more or less legitimate > climate>  disobedience (UK: climate camps; Germany: Ende Gelände; etc...), XR can play the super-important role of expanding the space of disobedience to include a far larger sector of society than had previously been open to a politics that breaks rules. in other words: whereas ende gelände (like climate camp) managed brilliantly to organise 'activist social movements', and bring their powers to bear on climate change, the majority of society remained spectators. this was partly due to the fact that the folks who started climate camp and ende gelände came out of years of activism organising in radical subcultures, complete with discourses and cultural practices that give us coherence, but leave many outside of our cultures with a sense of 'i'd rather not play with them'. 
>
> then came the epochal change that is our saint greta (i'm not being sarcastic, i'm being vaguely hegelian ;)) and f4f: a call to the rest of society to also get its asses in gear, and not leave protecting the climate to a small set of activist specialists.
>
> and THAT's the space that XR can step into: tactically low-level blockades (as opposed to tactically much more challenging pit- or digger-blockades) in urban spaces (so no need to travel out of town to shut down a pit), that concerned but not overly radical folks can join for an hour, a day, or however long they see fit.
>
> and secondly, they can connect their practices with the discoursive radicalism that F4F have injected into the debate, whereas us old-school CJ-folks tend to remain stuck in a climate discourse from a time before F4F.
>
> to be honest, and this is where i'd really like to pick up the baton of what tetet said: are we sure that we're not just defending our own business as usual? what is it that F4F and XR have ahead of us, why, if it's so 'superficial', 'catastrophist', unaware of the all-important justice dimension or whatever other traditional critiques of XR we might articulate: why are they sweeping the floor with us in terms of mobilisation and media attention? and what can we learn from them?
>
> i lived and was 'an activist' in the UK for many years, but last year in november, seemingly out of the blue, XR managed to pull something off that no other group had managed in about two decades: to mobilise some 5000 people for a blockade of london's bridges. the tactical planning seemed to have been awful, but the important thing was: totally new people joined the blockades, people who'd never done such a thing.
>
> and today, much of the coverage (whether in the FT or the guardian) of XR focuses on this 'totally normal people are doing this'-dynamic.
>
> what can we learn from them, then, seems to me the more interesting question than 'what are they getting wrong?'.
>
> best
>
> tadzio
>
>
> ______________________________
>
> Jai Sen
>
>
> Independent researcher, editor
>
>
> jai.sen at cacim.net <mailto:jai.sen at cacim.net>
>
>
> Now based in New Delhi, India (+91-98189 11325) and in Ottawa, Canada,>  > on unceded Anishinaabe territory>  > (+1-613-282 2900)>  
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> Jai Sen, ed, 2018a –>  > The Movements of Movements, Part 2 : Rethinking Our Dance> . Ebook and hard copy available at>  > PM Press <http://www.pmpress.org/>
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> Jai Sen, ed, 2018b –>  > The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us Move ?> , Indian edition. New Delhi : AuthorsUpfront, in collaboration with OpenWord and>  > PM Press> .>  >  > Hard copy available at>  > MOM1AmazonIN <https://www.amazon.in/dp/9387280101/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522884070&sr=8-2&keywords=movements+of+movements+jai+sen>> ,>  > MOM1Flipkart <https://www.flipkart.com/the-movements-of-movements/p/itmf3zg7h79ecpgj?pid=9789387280106&lid=LSTBOK9789387280106NBA1CH&marketplace=FLIPKART&srno=s_1_1&otracker=search&fm=SEARCH&iid=ff35b702-e6a8-4423-b014-16c84f6f0092.9789387280106.SEARCH&ppt=Search%20Page>> , and>  > MOM1AUpFront <http://www.authorsupfront.com/movements.htm>
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> Jai Sen, ed, 2017 –>  > The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us Move ?> .>  >  > New Delhi : OpenWord and Oakland, CA :>  > PM Press> .>  >  > Ebook and hard copy available at>  > PM Press <http://www.pmpress.org/>
>
>
> Jai Sen, ed, 2016a>  >  > –>  > The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us Move ?>  > and Jai Sen, ed, 2016b –>  > The Movements of Movements, Part 2 : Rethinking Our Dance>  > (both then forthcoming from New Delhi : OpenWord and Oakland, CA : PM Press), open access>  > ADVANCE PREFINAL ONLINE MOVEMENT EDITIONS @>  > www.cacim.net <http://www.cacim.net>
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