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The proliferation of environmental alternative action organization (EAAOs) is a defining feature of present-day environmentalism. The literature on sustainable materialism has celebrated this as an appropriate, effective, and above all, political strategy. By contrast, drawing on post-political and post-ecologist critiques, some have argued that this shift signifies the de-politicisation of environmentalism because it leaves the status quo unchallenged. In this article, we argue that these opposing views can be reconciled first by considering that 'the political' has at least three different dimensions, and second by taking account of how activists reflexively navigate the different challenges posed by each of these dimensions in their strategizing. Based on an ethnographic case study of two organizations in Manchester (UK), we show that while EAAOs developing environmental alternatives may indeed be motivated by radical ideas – as suggested in literature on sustainable materialism – the contradictory demands of diffusion and agonism limit their expression through contentious action. We argue that the post-political context in which these groups operate thus has some depoliticizing impact, yet that activists consciously navigate these challenges to maximize their political impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigating the recent direct action campaigns against genetically modified crops in France and the United Kingdom, the authors set out to understand how contrasting judicial systems and cultures affect the way that activists choose to commit ostensibly illegal actions and how they negotiate the trade-offs between effectiveness and public accountability. The authors find evidence that prosecution outcomes across different judicial systems are consistent and relatively predictable and consequently argue that the concept of a “judicial opportunity structure” is useful for developing scholars’ understanding of social movement trajectories. The authors also find that these differential judicial opportunities cannot adequately account for the tactical choices made by activists with respect to the staging of covert or overt direct action; rather, explanations of tactical choice are better accounted for by movement ideas, cultures, and traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological sabotage (ecotage) has been a feature of the more radical parts of the environmental movement in the Western world for several decades. While it may be perceived as being the preserve of underground cells of 'eco-terrorists', in the UK those who carry out small-scale acts of sabotage are also often engaged in relatively conventional political activity; view sabotage as a complement to other action, not as an end in itself; and are committed to avoiding physical harm to people. Drawing on ethnographic data from research with British activists, this article seeks to define ecotage and to explain its place in the repertoires of the environmental direct action movement in the UK. It is argued that the self-limiting form of ecotage in the UK has its roots in cross-movement debates that have developed over several decades and that national traditions remain important in understanding the development of social movement repertoires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on ethnographic research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council this article defines the nature of the British direct action movement, interpreting its protests in terms of the strategic rationales given by its activists. The breadth of the movement's targets distinguishes it from pressure groups and makes it harder to apply conventional notions of success and failure to its actions. Most activists are young and, in previous generations, most had moved on to less demanding forms of action after a decade. Direct action groups are typically involved in a range of practical community projects as well as protest and are much less isolated from ties with other groups than is often thought. Direct action protest has become more frequent and the intensity of intra-movement divisions has reduced. Although more provocative than other forms of protest, direct action has come to be an important means of voicing concerns largely excluded from the political mainstream, with evidence of significant public support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We describe and analyse the fuel protests in the UK in September and November 2000. We draw on theories of social movements to explain the success of the first of these protests and the failure of the second. We show how the loose, network forms of organisation contributed to the success in September, and the attempts to impose more formal organisations helped to cause the failure in November. We also show how the success of the protests depended on the articulation of the aims of the protesters with dominant social forces in British politics, in particular the oil companies, the police, and the mass media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the protests against high fuel prices in 2000 and their implications for the environmental movement in Great Britain. Public support for the protests; Relationship between environmental groups and the fuel protesters; Active participation of farmers in the protests.

Explains the emergence of more radical environmental movement in Great Britain and the rise of diect action against road-building. Two groups in the anti-roads movement; Institutionalization of protest movements; Creation of radical protest networks; Road protests outside of environmental groups; Views by C. Rootes and S. Tarrow; Model by H.P. Ktiesi et al.

The article discusses the development of eco-activists tactics in radical environmental protest against new roads and other environmentally destructive projects such as quarries, open cast mines and the extension of Manchester Airport in Great Britain during 1990's. These protests have had a significant impact on political debate in the country. A small group of activists, at any one time only around two thousand are involved in these groups, has achieved a major cultural and political impact. Activist groups are networks of loosely organized local groups with no formal membership or no central organizations. Information is exchanged through newsletters and websites. An important factor in the impact of these protests has been the use of new, effective, and imaginative tactics, which are mainly used to prolong the occupation of new construction sites. These tactics are commonly defined as manufactured vulnerability. By prolonging evictions and creating confrontations with authorities, eco-activists have captured significant public attention.

Focuses on the anti-road construction movement in Great Britain during the 1990s. Role of John Tyme, a political activist who protests against the construction of motor ways in the 1970s; Failure of direct action to halt road building; Decrease of the road programme; Work done by direct action groups.

Information about several topics discussed at the conference of the Great Britain Green Party on important changes in the party's structure is presented. The conference discussed redefined strategies and created an organization capable of supporting new goals. The support for a move towards delegate conferences and away from the existing system wherein voting is open to all members is also discussed.