Beyond Charles Tilly’s Repertoires of Contention. On Protest tactics
The Times has now published three Editorials condemning the protests of Just Stop Oil. Polly Toynbee is right in the Guardian (11 Nov) that the protests have been effective at placing climate change firmly on the political agenda. While direct action is one way of making a point, there are others. What the sociologist Charles Tilly called the Repertoire of Contention includes petitions, marches, rallies and strikes. They can be less dramatic than stopping the M25 but they too can get a message across.
Tilly sees a hierarchy of contention and protest from the petition to riot and revolt. The world doesn’t work like that. People can petition and take direct action at the same time, and often combinations of protest strategies can bring at least some results. The key is to start protesting in the first place.
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