Having been around since the early days of Climate Camp, I consider myself a veteran of climate activism. Witnessing the more recent rise of groups like the climate strikers and Extinction Rebellion has been a joy – but one tempered by worry.
Firstly there’s what’s become a common dynamic of movements in the social media age: they burn like a rocket, dazzling for a time but then fizzle out, often leaving little movement infrastructure behind. But there’s also the impact on those involved, particularly where groups make people feel they have a responsibility to put themselves in harm’s way, leaving participants arrested, burnt out, or worse.
