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Strategizing to be in the right place at the right time
Many organizers already have plans for the next major climate disaster, while others are preparing to respond to the next economic crisis. Yet others are undermining the legitimacy of the system with communication and agitation tools. These strategic priorities give us different kinds of organizations and different kind of capabilities.
This webinar is about tapping into this complementary strategy diversity with organizers working on specific scenarios and specific interventions.
23 April - 17:00 UTC - Online
Speakers
Louis cut his teeth working on illegal dumping and public safety issues with the land defenders of a small Indigenous community. He has extensive experience in environmental advocacy, having participated in Quebec, Canadian, and UK climate movements, as well as activist education projects. Today, he is interested in flooding.
Sam Griffiths, previous speaker, was sent to prison for taking non-violent action against an oil infrastructure in Scottland. Therefore we will have with us:
Bertie Coyle, a supporter of Just Stop Oil in London, involved in the campaign since 2022. Estimates show that Just Stop Oil’s campaign has resulted in leaving 4.4 billion barrels of oil in the North Sea in the ground, untapped and unburned. Bertie has experience in press relations and social media – essential tasks in Just Stop Oil’s work. Using organic media coverage, Just Stop Oil has succeeded in bringing fossil fuel policies to the center of public debate.
Britney, they/them, is a young climate justice activist part of Rebelión o Extinción (Extincion Rebellion Spain). They work with organizing and building power bottom-up, so the communities organized around a local struggle unite with others out of need and join the broad anti-capitalist fight out of conviction. They are currently one of the organizers of “The Surge”, an international articulation against fascism, climate chaos, genocide and war.
Pablo Neri is an MST activist from the state of Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon, in the Palmares II settlement. He is currently a member of the MST’s National Directorate. He has a degree in history and a specialization in economics and agrarian development.
Moderator:
Alice Gato is a climate justice activist from Portugal since she was 16, and is currently doing most of her activism in Climáximo. She was one of the main organizers of Fridays For Future Portugal and one of the co-founders of the End Fossil Occupy international campaign. She has been active in several international initiatives of the climate movement, and leading some of them, such as the 5th International Ecosocialist Encounters and the Earth Social Conference.
Brief summary
Alice, the climate justice activist from Portugal, led the discussion on the different grand strategies for the movement. She highlighted the importance of understanding the scenarios the movement is preparing for, such as abrupt social and economic changes, outrageous moments, failure of the legitimacy of the regime, unstable regimes, natural disasters, and cultural hegemony.
Alice then invited Louis, a climate activist from the UK, to share his experience working with communities impacted by floods. Louis discussed the challenges of working with communities that are not necessarily interested in destroying capitalism and the importance of understanding the politics of disasters. He also highlighted the need for a strategic approach to ensure that the resulting political energy from disasters does not get wasted.
Bertie Coyle, a supporter of Just Stop Oil in London, shared his experience with the campaign and emphasized the importance of manipulating the media and gaming the attention economy to succeed in their efforts. Bertie also discussed the repression faced by their organization, including hundreds of people being put into prison, thousands of arrests, and significant financial costs. Bertie emphasized that these actions are crucial in putting pressure on the illegitimacy of the regime.
Pablo from Brazil then shared about the work of the Movimento Sem Terra (MST), a movement of landless peasants that aims to construct a popular state. Neri highlighted the challenges faced by the MST, including the struggle for land rights and the need to build a new society. Neri also mentioned the importance of international solidarity in their struggle.
You can watch all the webinars HERE
This webinar is part of a serie of webinars to dive deeper into the main statements in the book All In. They were designed to get inputs from activists, organizers and researchers who are actively working on each subject.
You can watch all of them here: https://www.youtube.com/@book-all-in-now/playlists