Until They Hear Us: Motivations, Justifications, and Effects of Extreme Climate Change Activism

Anthropogenic climate change, manifested in rising global temperatures and unstable weather patterns, is a growing existential threat to societies around the world. As negative effects have proliferated and governmental responses have remained slow, many citizens have taken to the streets to protest ongoing fossil fuel emissions. This thesis project examines the extreme instances of climate activism, where protestors use unconventional, disruptive methods to make their voices heard. From throwing soup on famous paintings to crashing videogame tournaments with spray paint, extreme climate activism is a divisive phenomenon that is seen by some as creative form of resistance and by others as misguided or counterproductive. This study employs a mixed-methods analysis of qualitative interview data and quantitative survey data to examine the motivations, justifications, and effectiveness of extreme protest tactics. Most of these data are collected on protestors from two case study organizations, the prominent UK activist groups Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion. There are three major findings of this study: climate protestors are motivated through educational exposure and dual senses of frustration and altruism, they justify their actions through historical precedent and an argument of moral necessity, and their methods are partly effective as symbolic actions that attract attention but are largely ineffective in gaining public sympathy. Protestors continually adapt their methods to fit their needs, and these findings offer insights into the viability of disruptive tactics as a mechanism for social change. This project ultimately finds that extreme climate activism is a divisive yet necessary piece of the environmental resistance movement; it concludes by recommending future research on the frequency and effectiveness of extreme tactics.