How we Win! Summary of findings on successful climate justice campaigns in North America: Difference between revisions
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<strong style="font-size: 14.4px;">Organizing Tactics:</strong><br> | <strong style="font-size: 14.4px;">Organizing Tactics:</strong><br> | ||
*'''Direct action: | *'''Direct action: '''The movement began in 2017 with an initial demonstration by Innu Land and Water Protectors. Decentralized actions, like hanging banners at symbolic locations, enhanced visibility and emphasized the project's lack of social acceptability (Kurdi 2021; Marie-Ève Maillé, Baba, and Marcotte 2023). The global climate strikes on September 27, 2019, that drew half a million people and featured a speech by climate activist Greta Thunberg, provided the GNL Quebec movement with an international platform. | ||
*'''Coalition building: | *'''Coalition building: '''Local citizens, civil society groups, environmental activists, opposition parties, and student associations, all united against GNL Quebec. Forming an informal coalition expanded the movement from a local to National issue (L’Héritier 2021; Fiset 2021; Kurdi 2021; Bergamo 2021). | ||
*<p class="p1">'''Political organizing:''' Utilizing petitions, polls, and active participation in official public consultations such as BAPE (The Office of Environmental Public Hearings, Quebec), the movement demonstrated resistance through many formal channels with record-breaking participation (Fiset 2020; Kurdi 2020b).<br></p> | *<p class="p1">'''Political organizing:''' Utilizing petitions, polls, and active participation in official public consultations such as BAPE (The Office of Environmental Public Hearings, Quebec), the movement demonstrated resistance through many formal channels with record-breaking participation (Fiset 2020; Kurdi 2020b). The number of citizens that contributed to the public consultation on the environmental assessment was historic (7000 submissions).<br></p> | ||
'''SUCCESS:''' | '''SUCCESS:''' | ||
*<p class="p1">In 2020 and 2021, major investors, including Warren Buffett's firm, withdrew support from the project (Houle 2020; Bourque 2021).</p> | *<p class="p1">In 2020 and 2021, major investors, including Warren Buffett's firm, withdrew support from the project (Houle 2020; Bourque 2021).</p> | ||
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== Results and key research findings == | == Results and key research findings == | ||
=== | === Researcher takeaways for successful climate justice campaigns === | ||
{| class="wikitable" style="border-collapse: collapse; height: 73px; width: 1118px;" | {| class="wikitable" style="border-collapse: collapse; height: 73px; width: 1118px;" | ||
|- style="height: 16px;" | |- style="height: 16px;" | ||
| style="width: 178.266px; height: 16px; background-color: rgb(153, 225, 217);" | '''Direct action''' | | style="width: 178.266px; height: 16px; background-color: rgb(153, 225, 217);" | '''Direct action''' | ||
| style="width: 913.734px; height: 16px;" | | | style="width: 913.734px; height: 16px;" | | ||
*Most commonly used to successfully overcome government opposition and police repression. | *Most commonly used to successfully overcome government opposition and police repression. | ||
|- style="height: 57px;" | |- style="height: 57px;" | ||
| style="width: 178.266px; height: 57px; background-color: rgb(153, 225, 217);" | '''Legal action and political pressure''' | | style="width: 178.266px; height: 57px; background-color: rgb(153, 225, 217);" | '''Legal action and political pressure''' | ||
| style="width: 913.734px; height: 57px;" | | | style="width: 913.734px; height: 57px;" | | ||
*Most effective for procedural delays, reducing the economic viability of projects, and sometimes, for facilitating the recognition of Indigenous rights and sovereignty. | *Most effective for procedural delays, reducing the economic viability of projects, and sometimes, for facilitating the recognition of Indigenous rights and sovereignty. | ||
|- | |- | ||
| style="width: 178.266px; background-color: rgb(153, 225, 217);" | '''Coalition building''' | | style="width: 178.266px; background-color: rgb(153, 225, 217);" | '''Coalition building''' | ||
| style="width: 913.734px;" | | | style="width: 913.734px;" | | ||
*Both a strategy and a success, leading to new campaigns and/or activist groups, and providing more perspectives and knowledge | *Both a strategy and a success, leading to new campaigns and/or activist groups, and providing more perspectives and knowledge | ||
*When facing police repression, it is important to strengthen the coalition to support activists and communities more at risk of experiencing direct criminalization or police violence, and to uplift marginalized voices. | *When facing police repression, it is important to strengthen the coalition to support activists and communities more at risk of experiencing direct criminalization or police violence, and to uplift marginalized voices. | ||
|- | |- | ||
| style="width: 178.266px; background-color: rgb(153, 225, 217);" | '''<strong style="font-size: 14.4px;" >Community engagement</strong>''' | | style="width: 178.266px; background-color: rgb(153, 225, 217);" | '''<strong style="font-size: 14.4px;">Community engagement</strong>''' | ||
| style="width: 913.734px;" | | | style="width: 913.734px;" | | ||
*<span style="font-size: 14.4px;" >Both a strategy and a success, fostering collaboration, strong community support and diverse campaigns that engage a wide variety of people.</span> | *<span style="font-size: 14.4px;">Both a strategy and a success, fostering collaboration, strong community support and diverse campaigns that engage a wide variety of people.</span> | ||
|- | |- | ||
| style="width: 178.266px; background-color: rgb(153, 225, 217);" | '''<strong style="font-size: 14.4px;" >Communication and raising public awareness</strong>''' | | style="width: 178.266px; background-color: rgb(153, 225, 217);" | '''<strong style="font-size: 14.4px;">Communication and raising public awareness</strong>''' | ||
| style="width: 913.734px;" | | | style="width: 913.734px;" | | ||
*<span style="font-size: 14.4px;" >Both a strategy and a success, increasing support for the campaign and lowering acceptability of the target.</span> | *<span style="font-size: 14.4px;">Both a strategy and a success, increasing support for the campaign and lowering acceptability of the target.</span><br><span style="font-size: 14.4px;"></span> | ||
|- | |||
|- | | style="width: 178.266px; background-color: rgb(153, 225, 217);" | '''<strong style="font-size: 14.4px;">Diversity of actors, strategies and tactics</strong>''' | ||
| style="width: 178.266px; background-color: rgb(153, 225, 217);" | '''<strong style="font-size: 14.4px;" >Diversity of actors, strategies and tactics</strong>''' | | style="width: 913.734px;" | | ||
| style="width: 913.734px;" | | *<span style="font-size: 14.4px;">Greatly contributed to the effectiveness of a successful intersectional campaign.</span> | ||
*<span style="font-size: 14.4px;" >Greatly contributed to the effectiveness of a successful intersectional campaign.</span> | |||
|} | |} | ||
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=== HUB team takeaways for successful climate justice campaigns === | === HUB team takeaways for successful climate justice campaigns === | ||
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 14.4px; width: 94.5671%; height: 497px; border-color: | {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 14.4px; width: 94.5671%; height: 497px; border-color: #000000;" | ||
|- style="height: 19px;" | |- style="height: 19px;" | ||
| style="width: 19.2956%; background-color: | | style="width: 19.2956%; background-color: #c51f84; border-color: #000000; height: 19px;" | | ||
<span style="color: #ffffff;" >'''To mobilize ''deeper'' (increase commitment and engagement)...'''</span> | <span style="color: #ffffff;">'''To mobilize ''deeper'' (increase commitment and engagement)...'''</span> | ||
| style="height: 19px; width: 77.1094%;" | | | style="height: 19px; width: 77.1094%;" | | ||
*'''Connect and engage directly with community members (e.g. canvassing, potlucks, skill shares etc).''' | *'''Connect and engage directly with community members (e.g. canvassing, potlucks, skill shares etc).''' | ||
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*'''Connect on the land.''' | *'''Connect on the land.''' | ||
<p>''"We kept having events in the forest for as long as we could. We kept up our potluck. We started doing distribution with that. So we had food distribution... clothing that people wanted to bring, hygiene kits... whatever you don't need, pretty much just became like the community swap meet and potluck on every Wednesday... we continue to have skill shares in the forest and we continued to do things like the music festival, where a bunch of people got arrested for just being at a music festival. We kept doing those things so that people could see, like, this is where we are, this is what we're doing this is, this is where we congregate as a community. This is where we come together and do things. You know, this is what we are fighting so hard for not only for this land, we're fighting for our community, we're fighting for our bond, we're fighting for this thing that brings us together, but also keeps us alive, keeps us going gives us a greater quality of life."'' ''-''Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City</p> | <p>''"We kept having events in the forest for as long as we could. We kept up our potluck. We started doing distribution with that. So we had food distribution... clothing that people wanted to bring, hygiene kits... whatever you don't need, pretty much just became like the community swap meet and potluck on every Wednesday... we continue to have skill shares in the forest and we continued to do things like the music festival, where a bunch of people got arrested for just being at a music festival. We kept doing those things so that people could see, like, this is where we are, this is what we're doing this is, this is where we congregate as a community. This is where we come together and do things. You know, this is what we are fighting so hard for not only for this land, we're fighting for our community, we're fighting for our bond, we're fighting for this thing that brings us together, but also keeps us alive, keeps us going gives us a greater quality of life."'' ''-''Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City</p> | ||
|- style="height: 120px;" | |- style="height: 120px;" | ||
| style="width: 19.2956%; background-color: | | style="width: 19.2956%; background-color: #c51f84; border-color: #000000; height: 120px;" | <span style="color: #ffffff;">'''To mobilize widely...'''</span> | ||
| style="width: 77.1094%; height: 120px;" | | | style="width: 77.1094%; height: 120px;" | | ||
*'''Engage with many forms of media''' | *'''Engage with many forms of media''' | ||
''"We have to work hard for alternative media to get things out. So we have a number of different news crews that work with us; independent journalists, local magazines and newspapers. And then we were able to get NBC to come here to do a short documentary about cop city... and also the documentary done by Al Jazeera. Those have been like the mainstream media documentaries that have really opened people's eyes." -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City'' | ''"We have to work hard for alternative media to get things out. So we have a number of different news crews that work with us; independent journalists, local magazines and newspapers. And then we were able to get NBC to come here to do a short documentary about cop city... and also the documentary done by Al Jazeera. Those have been like the mainstream media documentaries that have really opened people's eyes." -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City'' | ||
|- style="height: 51px;" | |- style="height: 51px;" | ||
| style="width: 19.2956%; background-color: | | style="width: 19.2956%; background-color: #c51f84; border-color: #000000; height: 51px;" | <span style="color: #ffffff;">'''To get your message across...'''</span> | ||
| style="height: 51px; width: 77.1094%;" | | | style="height: 51px; width: 77.1094%;" | | ||
*'''Relate to issues concerning community members''' (i.e. rather than a blanket 'stop climate change', campaigns and communication addressed a specific concern, project, proposal or law impacting locals).<br> | *'''Relate to issues concerning community members''' (i.e. rather than a blanket 'stop climate change', campaigns and communication addressed a specific concern, project, proposal or law impacting locals).<br> | ||
<p>''"At the time, I was working for voting rights organization, and I was the lead childcare organizer. And one of the things that I started to do was talk to people about how cop city affected the state of childcare... when you're talking about childcare, you are talking about health care. And when you're talking about health care, you have to talk about economic justice and environmental justice together. And you cannot have a conversation about childcare without talking about reproductive justice. Because according to the pillars of reproductive justice, I am supposed to be able to raise the children that I choose to have in a clean, safe environment that is free of state sanctioned interpersonal violence... So when when you looked at... what that intersectionality was, and how we could get people to understand.. '''everybody has a stake in this'''."'' -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City</p> | <p>''"At the time, I was working for voting rights organization, and I was the lead childcare organizer. And one of the things that I started to do was talk to people about how cop city affected the state of childcare... when you're talking about childcare, you are talking about health care. And when you're talking about health care, you have to talk about economic justice and environmental justice together. And you cannot have a conversation about childcare without talking about reproductive justice. Because according to the pillars of reproductive justice, I am supposed to be able to raise the children that I choose to have in a clean, safe environment that is free of state sanctioned interpersonal violence... So when when you looked at... what that intersectionality was, and how we could get people to understand.. '''everybody has a stake in this'''."'' -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City</p> | ||
|- style="height: 28px;" | *'''Contact press and hold press conferences at strategic times to control the narrative''' | ||
| style="width: 19.2956%; background-color: | ''"There was, at one point it was really like a back and forth of, we're sending a press release, and then a company has to answer that we're sending a press release under industry, and they have to answer, so we kind of we became master the narrative where they had to always answer our communication." -''Louise Couillard, GNL Quebec | ||
|- style="height: 28px;" | |||
| style="width: 19.2956%; background-color: #c51f84; border-color: #000000; height: 28px;" | <span style="color: #ffffff;">'''To build a stronger force...'''</span> | |||
| style="height: 28px; width: 77.1094%;" | | | style="height: 28px; width: 77.1094%;" | | ||
*'''Form strategic alliances/coalitions between the grassroots, NGOs, unions, associations, academics etc. ''' | *'''Form strategic alliances/coalitions between the grassroots, NGOs, unions, associations, academics etc. ''' | ||
''"Knock on all these doors and find out key organizational and individual levers that the can help you. I think it's critical to find a way to get the big green NGOs on board. They have a lot of mobilization power, and when they actually show up, they can be instrumental, and then you need to find political allies as well... all the opposition parties were with us... and the mobilization needs to be grassroots-led... that is a prime example of how local grassroots organizing, amplified by others, can become the most powerful tool in the world." ''-Louise Couillard, GNL Quebec | |||
*'''Map out your spectrum of allies''' | |||
''"You need to analyze where your allies are, active allies, passive allies, who are your active enemies, and really focus on bringing more passive allies to the active side... when this all started, there was a lot of passive allies. The students were concerned with climate, but they weren't specifically involved in the project. At first, the only active allies there was a tiny bit of people from First Nations [communities], and then citizen groups... when you're in that moment, where you're trying to develop a campaign against a big struggle, or a big project like this one, you really need to find, who are those people in society that agree with me, but aren't doing shit about it. And that's a tough part. That's a long process. But you really have to do it." ''-Louise Couillard, GNL Quebec | |||
*'''Do skill and knowledge shares for sustainable engagement.''' | *'''Do skill and knowledge shares for sustainable engagement.''' | ||
"''We constantly do teachings with each other. You know, this Friday, we have a teaching with the Palestinian youth movement to help people understand how cop city connects to the struggle for freedom in Palestine. We constantly educate ourselves so that we educate the community. So, we do that by canvassing, we do that by public facing events like movie screenings and townhall meetings, community talkbacks where the community will come and just tell us, hey, this is my concern.''" -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City | "''We constantly do teachings with each other. You know, this Friday, we have a teaching with the Palestinian youth movement to help people understand how cop city connects to the struggle for freedom in Palestine. We constantly educate ourselves so that we educate the community. So, we do that by canvassing, we do that by public facing events like movie screenings and townhall meetings, community talkbacks where the community will come and just tell us, hey, this is my concern.''" -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City | ||
|- style="height: 74px;" | *'''Support action led by directly impacted communities''' | ||
| style="width: 19.2956%; background-color: | ''"The mass education campaigns on hydraulic fracturing that had been ongoing since 2011 were not Indigenous-led. Numerous action and advocacy groups across the province were also not Indigenous-led. The frontlines certainly were Indigenous-led. So, in support of frontline activities, allies were very supportive, financially and materially." -Anonymous journalist for Mi'kmaq resistance'' | ||
|- style="height: 74px;" | |||
| style="width: 19.2956%; background-color: #c51f84; border-color: #000000; height: 74px;" | <span style="color: #ffffff;">'''To maintain momentum...'''</span> | |||
| style="width: 77.1094%; height: 74px;" | | | style="width: 77.1094%; height: 74px;" | | ||
*'''Recognize and reflect on your successes''' | *'''Recognize and reflect on your successes''' | ||
''"The biggest victory in this fight against cop city, is that people understand what it is that we do need to be safe and community because this has really opened up a huge conversation about community safety."'' -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City | ''"The biggest victory in this fight against cop city, is that people understand what it is that we do need to be safe and community because this has really opened up a huge conversation about community safety."'' -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City | ||
|- style="height: 125px;" | *'''Leverage the momentum of other movements by drawing connections''' | ||
| style="width: 19.2956%; background-color: | "''At the time of the shutdown Canada movement... when the entire world was watching what was going on in the West... [there were great narratives] built between what was going on out west and what was going on here, tying it to basically being the same colonial projects that were that were being forced down the throat of Indigenous communities." -''Louise Couillard, GNL Quebec | ||
| style="width: 77.1094%; height: 125px;" | | |- style="height: 125px;" | ||
| style="width: 19.2956%; background-color: #c51f84; border-color: #000000; height: 125px;" | <span style="color: #ffffff;">'''To strengthen relationships...'''</span> | |||
| style="width: 77.1094%; height: 125px;" | | |||
*'''Center joy!''' | *'''Center joy!''' | ||
"''We started to choir... there are a lot of people who are very good singers, there are people who are instrumentalists. There are people who just want to have good vibes and chill out with each other. So we started singing together, we started doing that. And we've performed in a couple of places, it's been a lot of fun. People are carrying it on, you know, make sure that you definitely do that make time for joy and make space for healing."'' -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City | "''We started to choir... there are a lot of people who are very good singers, there are people who are instrumentalists. There are people who just want to have good vibes and chill out with each other. So we started singing together, we started doing that. And we've performed in a couple of places, it's been a lot of fun. People are carrying it on, you know, make sure that you definitely do that make time for joy and make space for healing."'' -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City | ||
|- style="height: 80px;" | |- style="height: 80px;" | ||
| style="width: 19.2956%; background-color: | | style="width: 19.2956%; background-color: #c51f84; border-color: #000000; height: 80px;" | | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
| style="width: 77.1094%; height: 80px;" | More to come! | | style="width: 77.1094%; height: 80px;" | More to come! | ||
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=== HUB team observations: additional lessons for activists === | === HUB team observations: additional lessons for activists === | ||
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For environmentalists that do not understand how Indigenous sovereignty and police violence relate to the climate crisis... | For environmentalists that do not understand how Indigenous sovereignty and police violence relate to the climate crisis... | ||
| style="height: 28px; width: 993.812px;" | | | style="height: 28px; width: 993.812px;" | | ||
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1) How '''structural racism and ongoing settler colonialism impact historic and ongoing climate justice campaigns, specifically on Indigenous Land defenders. '''Schneidel et al. (2020) showed that the degree of criminalization, physical violence, and assassinations during environmental campaigns significantly increases when Indigenous people are involved. | 1) How '''structural racism and ongoing settler colonialism impact historic and ongoing climate justice campaigns, specifically on Indigenous Land defenders. '''Schneidel et al. (2020) showed that the degree of criminalization, physical violence, and assassinations during environmental campaigns significantly increases when Indigenous people are involved. | ||
2) | 2) Most climate justice campaigns that have had''' success in the last 20 years across Turtle Island have been initiated and led by impacted Indigenous communities'''. | ||
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More to come! | More to come! | ||
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''<span style=""></span>'' | ''<span style=""></span>'' |
Revision as of 16:43, 10 April 2024
This page is a work in progress! Stay tuned for more information :)
To read the full report, see the following: How We Win! A Qualitative Review of Successful Climate Justice Campaigns in North America in the Last 20 Years
Defining 'success' and study parameters
'Success’ was defined as having achieved material gains, or advancements in physical, financial, legal, or electoral conditions.
- 14 successful intersectional climate justice campaigns from Mexico, the so-called United States and so-called Canada were explored to respond to the research question.
- 12 directly addressed racial justice, 11 addressed Indigenous rights, 8 tackled health and/or water justice, 3 addressed housing justice, 2 tackled disability justice and 1 addressed food justice.
- Almost all of those explored were started by local, directly impacted Indigenous communities. The majority set to stop activities before they began (when projects were first proposed).
- Length of campaign activities ranged from 6 months to over 50 years (Global Nonviolent Action Database, 2023). Half of the campaigns explored are still ongoing.
The successes of the campaigns included in the study included:
|
How the Research Team Defined This Success |
Campaigns Associated with this Success |
Cancellation of Projects or Practices; material success |
The temporary or permanent cancellation of projects or practices. |
10/14 |
Legislation and/or Policy Change; material success | The enactment of policy or laws that align with the campaign’s goals. |
3/14 +2/14 partially |
Recognition of Indigenous rights/sovereignty; material success |
Formal recognition that Indigenous rights or sovereignty were/would have been violated by a project or practice. |
3/14 |
Building new and diverse coalitions; immaterial success |
Building new alliances and partnerships with other individuals, organizations, or movements that did not exist before the campaign. |
4/14
|
Community engagement; immaterial success | A strategy that puts marginalized communities at the forefront of the movement to raise awareness, mobilize support, and foster a sense of collective agency. |
5/14 |
Climate justice campaigns
Stand LA (US)
“For us [...] it's a justice issue. And it's also an equity issue. If there is a universal good, we have to start with the most vulnerable, because equity never ever trickles down. It has to start from the bottom”.
Summary of group |
Founded in 2013, Stand-LA formed to halt oil drilling in residential areas in Los Angeles. Their campaigns address environmentally and health hazardous projects that impact marginalized communities. [1] |
'People Not Pozos' (People not wells) campaign |
Targeted AllenCo drilling site was polluting a low-income, minority community. This had negative health impacts on residents (Cavallaro 2022). Organizing tactics:
SUCCESS: Senator Boxer called on the Environmental Protection Agency to perform an investigation, and the AllenCo site shut down. Following their success, the STAND-L.A. coalition formalized. |
'No Drilling Where We Are Living' campaign |
Organizing tactics:
SUCCESSES: |
Major challenges faced by STAND-LA |
Stop Cop City (US)
“Whether the win comes through the ballot, in the courts or in the streets, Cop City must never be built”
Summary of campaign and project |
Stop Cop City began in 2017 in response to the city of Atlanta's plan to build the biggest police and firefighter training facility in the country.
|
Summary of resistance |
After the project was announced, the Atlanta City Council solicited a session of public feedback. Over 1000 people attended and it lasted over 17 hours. The majority of people were against the project. (Sydow 2023). Organizing tactics:
SUCCESS:
|
Major challenges faced by Stop Cop City |
|
Keystone XL Pipeline (US/CAN)
Summary of project |
|
Summary of resistance |
Organizing tactics:
SUCCESS:
|
Grassy Narrows (CAN)
Summary of project |
|
Summary of resistance |
Organizing tactics:
SUCCESS:
Note: In 2023, the specialized infrastructure project failed to be granted any funding by the Government, citing soaring costs. |
#RightToBreathe/PES (US)
Photo from: Philly Thrive
Summary of project |
|
Summary of resistance |
Organizing tactics:
SUCCESS:
Philly Thrive continues to organize for environmental justice with their campaigns. They are now advocating for their “RightToThrive”, to repair and clean up 154 years of violence and pollution in their communities (Brockmeier 2021; Philly Thrive). |
13 Pueblos (Mexico)
Summary of project |
|
Summary of resistance |
Organizing tactics:
SUCCESS:
|
Major challenges faced |
|
Trans Mountain Expansion Pipeline (CAN)
Summary of project |
|
Summary of resistance |
Organizing tactics:
|
Major challenges faced |
|
Atlantic Coast Pipeline (US)
Summary of project |
|
Summary of resistance |
Organizing tactics:
SUCCESS:
|
Public Power New York (US)
Summary of project and campaign |
|
Summary of resistance |
Organizing tactics:
SUCCESS:
|
Mi’kmaq Resistance (CAN)
Summary of project |
|
Summary of resistance |
Organizing tactics:
|
Challenges faces |
|
GNL Quebec (CAN)
Summary of project |
|
Summary of resistance |
The movement against GNL used multi-level approach, engaging local, national, and international spheres, and created a united front. Organizing Tactics:
SUCCESS:
|
Standing Rock (US)
Summary of project |
|
Summary of resistance |
Organizing tactics:
SUCCESS:
|
Challenges faced |
|
Athabasca Tar Sands Resistance (CAN)
Summary of project |
|
Summary of resistance |
Organizing tactics:
On coalition building, Lubicon Cree activist Melina Laboucan-Massimo said, “‘When we work in coalitions – the environmental movement, First Nations and the labor movement – there’s such a convergence of diverse voices…we’re really starting to see growing public accountability and public opposition being seen and taken seriously'’” (Rose 2014). SUCCESS:
|
Nitaskinan60 (CAN)
Summary of project |
Nitaskinan – Atikamekw territory – has been threatened by the destruction of logging companies. |
Summary of resistance |
Organizing tactics:
SUCCESS (this campaign is ongoing):
|
Challenges faced |
|
Strategy and tactics used
Direct action (14/14) |
|
Community engagement (9/14) |
|
Mass engagement (9/14) |
|
Coalition building (7/14) |
|
Legal action and political pressure (7/14) |
|
Mass communication (5/14) |
|
Independent research (3/14) |
|
Participating actors
Diversity of locally impacted community members/land defenders, grassroots activists and NGOs = success |
|
Unions |
|
Industry professionals and student groups |
|
Challenges faced
Government opposition (7/14) |
|
Police repression (4/14) |
|
Coalition challenges (4/14) |
E.g. “There has been a lack of structure in the coalition when it comes to making decisions when it comes to allocation of resources…the lack of structure has meant that we are being pulled in like 25 directions all at once. We need to unravel this notion that structure is our enemy. And if we refuse to define what leadership looks like, on the basis that leadership is hierarchical. It just means that leadership goes, unaccounted [for], and it goes unchecked.” -Activist against TMX pipeline
|
Legal challenges (3/14) |
|
Health challenges (3/14) |
|
Misinformation (2/14) |
|
Results and key research findings
Researcher takeaways for successful climate justice campaigns
Direct action |
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Legal action and political pressure |
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Coalition building |
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Community engagement |
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Communication and raising public awareness |
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Diversity of actors, strategies and tactics |
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Direct action, community engagement and building strong, large, and diverse coalitions seem to be the most effective strategies, and the best strategies for overcoming challenges.
HUB team takeaways for successful climate justice campaigns
To mobilize deeper (increase commitment and engagement)... |
"Why in the world would I go to a public park next to a police training facility like I wasn't going to do that. I wasn't going. But when I went back, what I saw was that the community had come in and began to use the land, the community had really started to make it our park. And people were doing teachings there about how to live off of the land, showing you what mushrooms were growing that you could eat, what type of moss you could use to make a poultice for cuts or to any types of wounds, you know, then there was like a weekly potluck that was happening. And people were talking to us about that area of land and what the South River Forest meant to this community." -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City
"When we went door to door talking to people, what we found was that for a lot of people, the people who live farther away from the forest, the mayor's narrative was winning in so many ways, because people were like, 'Oh, it's just a training facility like what are you mad about?'... But when you began to talk to people about the nuts and bolts of it, when you began to tell people 'what do you think about a Blackhawk helicopter landing pad?' People like we're like, 'what do we need that for?'...Yeah, well, what do you think about the firing range?" -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City
"We kept having events in the forest for as long as we could. We kept up our potluck. We started doing distribution with that. So we had food distribution... clothing that people wanted to bring, hygiene kits... whatever you don't need, pretty much just became like the community swap meet and potluck on every Wednesday... we continue to have skill shares in the forest and we continued to do things like the music festival, where a bunch of people got arrested for just being at a music festival. We kept doing those things so that people could see, like, this is where we are, this is what we're doing this is, this is where we congregate as a community. This is where we come together and do things. You know, this is what we are fighting so hard for not only for this land, we're fighting for our community, we're fighting for our bond, we're fighting for this thing that brings us together, but also keeps us alive, keeps us going gives us a greater quality of life." -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City |
To mobilize widely... |
"We have to work hard for alternative media to get things out. So we have a number of different news crews that work with us; independent journalists, local magazines and newspapers. And then we were able to get NBC to come here to do a short documentary about cop city... and also the documentary done by Al Jazeera. Those have been like the mainstream media documentaries that have really opened people's eyes." -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City |
To get your message across... |
"At the time, I was working for voting rights organization, and I was the lead childcare organizer. And one of the things that I started to do was talk to people about how cop city affected the state of childcare... when you're talking about childcare, you are talking about health care. And when you're talking about health care, you have to talk about economic justice and environmental justice together. And you cannot have a conversation about childcare without talking about reproductive justice. Because according to the pillars of reproductive justice, I am supposed to be able to raise the children that I choose to have in a clean, safe environment that is free of state sanctioned interpersonal violence... So when when you looked at... what that intersectionality was, and how we could get people to understand.. everybody has a stake in this." -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City
"There was, at one point it was really like a back and forth of, we're sending a press release, and then a company has to answer that we're sending a press release under industry, and they have to answer, so we kind of we became master the narrative where they had to always answer our communication." -Louise Couillard, GNL Quebec |
To build a stronger force... |
"Knock on all these doors and find out key organizational and individual levers that the can help you. I think it's critical to find a way to get the big green NGOs on board. They have a lot of mobilization power, and when they actually show up, they can be instrumental, and then you need to find political allies as well... all the opposition parties were with us... and the mobilization needs to be grassroots-led... that is a prime example of how local grassroots organizing, amplified by others, can become the most powerful tool in the world." -Louise Couillard, GNL Quebec
"You need to analyze where your allies are, active allies, passive allies, who are your active enemies, and really focus on bringing more passive allies to the active side... when this all started, there was a lot of passive allies. The students were concerned with climate, but they weren't specifically involved in the project. At first, the only active allies there was a tiny bit of people from First Nations [communities], and then citizen groups... when you're in that moment, where you're trying to develop a campaign against a big struggle, or a big project like this one, you really need to find, who are those people in society that agree with me, but aren't doing shit about it. And that's a tough part. That's a long process. But you really have to do it." -Louise Couillard, GNL Quebec
"We constantly do teachings with each other. You know, this Friday, we have a teaching with the Palestinian youth movement to help people understand how cop city connects to the struggle for freedom in Palestine. We constantly educate ourselves so that we educate the community. So, we do that by canvassing, we do that by public facing events like movie screenings and townhall meetings, community talkbacks where the community will come and just tell us, hey, this is my concern." -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City
"The mass education campaigns on hydraulic fracturing that had been ongoing since 2011 were not Indigenous-led. Numerous action and advocacy groups across the province were also not Indigenous-led. The frontlines certainly were Indigenous-led. So, in support of frontline activities, allies were very supportive, financially and materially." -Anonymous journalist for Mi'kmaq resistance |
To maintain momentum... |
"The biggest victory in this fight against cop city, is that people understand what it is that we do need to be safe and community because this has really opened up a huge conversation about community safety." -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City
"At the time of the shutdown Canada movement... when the entire world was watching what was going on in the West... [there were great narratives] built between what was going on out west and what was going on here, tying it to basically being the same colonial projects that were that were being forced down the throat of Indigenous communities." -Louise Couillard, GNL Quebec |
To strengthen relationships... |
"We started to choir... there are a lot of people who are very good singers, there are people who are instrumentalists. There are people who just want to have good vibes and chill out with each other. So we started singing together, we started doing that. And we've performed in a couple of places, it's been a lot of fun. People are carrying it on, you know, make sure that you definitely do that make time for joy and make space for healing." -Keyanna Jones, Stop Cop City |
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More to come! |
HUB team observations: additional lessons for activists
For environmentalists that do not understand how Indigenous sovereignty and police violence relate to the climate crisis... |
There are 2 critical points to emphasize: 1) How structural racism and ongoing settler colonialism impact historic and ongoing climate justice campaigns, specifically on Indigenous Land defenders. Schneidel et al. (2020) showed that the degree of criminalization, physical violence, and assassinations during environmental campaigns significantly increases when Indigenous people are involved. 2) Most climate justice campaigns that have had success in the last 20 years across Turtle Island have been initiated and led by impacted Indigenous communities. |
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More to come! |
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If you have corrections or additional resources to share with us related to this content, you can contact kenzie@lehub.ca.