Direct Action

There is a long and vibrant history of direct action across the world; from the suffragettes to the civil rights movement, from Gandhi to the miners' strike. The examples of people getting together to make the world a better place are well known.

Often the media distort 'direct action' and 'civil disobedience' to mean smashing windows or scuffles with the police – what these phrases actually mean is people actively deciding to do what you think is the right thing to do, and not waiting for somebody else to do it for them - even if that means stepping out of line and perhaps breaking the law. This assertive approach has proved to be a vital motor for progressive change, which we intend to carry on.

The direct action at the camp will take many forms. The main thing to note is that everything you do is your own choice. Some people will go to the camp and not go on the day of action, nor organise their own protests and actions. Others, pressed for time, are planning on only coming for the day of mass action - on Saturday August 9th - where thousands of us will collectively shut down Kingsnorth power station giving a powerful statement that we will not accept another being built there.

Throughout the camp there will be people ready to train you in direct action techniques - like clever plans to avoid the police altogether - and legal briefings to understand exactly what will, and won't happen, if you chose to deliberately step out of line - for example, by using superglue to shut the head offices of e.on down. There will be lots of time and space to decide what you want to do and don’t want to do. We hope that many groups - big and small - will use the camp to train and take action on all aspects of climate change, from coal to aviation to biofuels, as well as coming on the mass action.

More information on the mass day of action