Manufactured Vunerability: Eco-Activist Tactics in Britain
Author: Brian Doherty
Abstract
This article examines the development of tactics in radical environmentalist protest against new roads and other environmental issues in Britain during the 1990's. These tactics depend heavily upon the technical creativity of the protestors. Their repertoire has been influenced by British traditions of non-violent direct action and by tactics used previously by radical environmentalists in other countries, notably Australia. This form of non-violent direct action is defined here as manufactured vulnerability because of its reliance on technical devices to prolong vulnerability. Much evidence in this case confirms past studies of how new action forms are developed. Evidence also suggests the development of tactics in radical environmental groups is particularly likely to be influenced by latent networks of activists and cross-national diffusion.
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