Civil disobedience can work

FOR A CAUSE: Greenpeace campaigner Alex Green was one of the protesters chained to a truck at Mars Petcare factory in Whanganui in May. PHOTO/FILE Publication WAC

A BRITISH majority has voted to exit the European Union, Americans have supported Donald Trump as the republican presidential nominee.

Are we entering a new age of civil disobedience for "ordinary" people? Certainly some commentators are suggesting that "ordinary" people are rejecting the status quo, the ruling elite decisions and eurocrats.

Civil disobedience is often used in times of frustration when nothing else seems to have any traction. When publicity seems to be denied [for] a cause, when people feel powerless, and want alternative ways of raising awareness.

History certainly provides us with lots of examples of civil disobedience, in a multitude of forms.

Taking an active role in protests has been used for generations. Some well-known ones include Te Whiti and followers pulling up the surveyors' pegs in colonial Taranaki, non-violent sit-ins and land occupations at Bastion Point and Paikaitore. While we now recognise the issues they raised, at the time many participants were made to suffer for their actions.

The suffragettes are also well known for their acts of defiance, chaining themselves to railings to get arrested. More recently, Sonja Davies tied herself to a Nelson railway line.

Currently, protesters from organisations like Greenpeace have locked themselves to ships, oil rigs and - here in Whanganui - to trucks.

An active protest for Maori land rights, but less confrontational, was the 1975 hikoi led by 80-year-old Dame Whina Cooper and then, in 2004, the seabed and foreshore hikoi.

People have organised marches to Parliament, down Queen St and other local spots like our own Victoria Ave and around the River Traders' Market, against the current Government's ambitions for a TPP agreement.

Taking to the water in giant flotillas of small boats has been effective in generating publicity. Challenging giant United States warships in New Zealand harbours comes to mind, as does last year's huge protest in Seattle against the Shell oil rig that was heading to the Arctic waters to hunt for oil.

Norm Kirk's Labour Government even sent our warships to Mururoa to protest the French nuclear tests, while Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd have been very active taking on the Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean.

Written petitions are regularly used. New Zealand's best-known petition stopped the high dam on Lake Manapouri. These days more and more people are using the internet to gather huge numbers of signatures on electronic petitions - harnessing numbers and the pressure of consumers in our commodity-focused world.
In this way groups can confront governments, companies and multinationals wherever they operate.

Others still prefer direct action, such as attending company AGMs and shareholder meetings, blocking entrances to buildings and stores or staging silent vigils.
Climate change is affecting us all and our governments are being slow to respond in meaningful ways.

How, then, do we engage with those in powerful positions? The question then must be, is active civil disobedience a reasonable option?
¦Graham Pearson is a retired local who enjoys contributing his time and energy to local environmental projects.