“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” But no, instead it was a bright cold day in October, and the clocks were striking twelve. Whilst I have cruelly misquoted 1984, the unease and fear evoked by those subtle lines captures that expressed by members of the St Andrews chapter of Extinction Rebellion (XR). Over fifty locals and students gathered in Church Square for a die-in. When the clock began to chime at twelve, the crowd proceeded to lie down on the punishing arctic cobbles for fifteen long minutes. The eclectic group of, in the words of Boris Johnson, “un-cooperative crusties,” displayed a cross-section of St Andrews denizens; from pensioners to children, and a strong body of student activists. On bamboo canes fluttered the circled hourglass, a symbol of the Holocene extinction. Two other members stood adjacent to the church holding a banner that read: “We Declare a Climate Emergency.”
The Saint interviewed coordinators Alexandra Weiler and Callum Mason about the St Andrews chapter and wider Extinction Rebellion movement. The die-in was a well-planned affair: Ms Weiler explained that they brainstormed in order to “see what would be necessary to organise in advance and spoke to the police to check that what [they] were doing was not illegal.” During the protest, an organiser politely asked one of the corpses to tuck their legs in a little so a dog walker could pass down Logies Lane. It was clearly not intended to be a disruptive act; mass arrests seemed unlikely. Instead it was to “show sol-idarity with the bigger protests happening in London.” Mr Mason notes that “disruption should be for a purpose and the disruption of local people is not going to have as big an impact as of large-scale infrastructure in London, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.” Ms Weiler points out that “the point is to disrupt people who can act.”
The protest in St Andrews coincided with the halfway point of the two-week “International Rebellion”, which was occurring 350 miles south in London. Protests flooded across the capital with the police allowing an encampment to be set up in Trafalgar Square, a community where protestors received instruction and events were held, like the gathering of eminent writers. However, the crackdown was accelerated by the amendment of the Section 14 Public Order banning all Extinction Rebellion protests in London from 21.00 on Monday 14 October, which was considered draconian and contested in the courts. The highly disruptive protests, such as the assembly of a bamboo structure at Oxford Circus, the crimson red brigade, protests on Westminster Bridge and Lambeth Bridge, the blockading of the Bank junction in the City, and the red hand march on Whitehall, caught the public eye. Londoners became less receptive to the action day by day. Anger reached its zenith when XR protestors climbed onto a Jubilee Line train at Canning Town, during the morning rush hour, only to be dragged down by disgruntled commuters; one individual shouted “I have to get to work too — I have to feed my kids.”
Extinction Rebellion expressed regret towards the action. One member, by the name of Zion Lights, had her rhetoric of fear picked apart by Andrew Neil; she eventually capitulated stating: “We don’t have exact numbers, but there will be deaths and mass suffering.” Dominic Lawson of The Times labelled the group a “doomsday cult.”
The St Andrews chapter is averse to disruption in town as they believe it would be ineffectual. In Mr Mason’s eyes, they are “more interested in the slower outreach side of Extinction Rebellion – more about spreading awareness concerning climate change.” Ms Weiler hopes they will join bigger protests and provide a platform in St Andrews for engag-ing in activism and for individuals to “find a community here that supports them”, including “through legal issues.” The group aims to destigmatise the activities occurring across the world and to show that they are “about scientific fact.” Ms Weiler cites the IPCC “Special Report on Global Warming of more than 1.5°C”; it states that CO2 emissions must be reduced “well before 2030”, on a path to fall by 45 percent. “Extinction Rebellion is about civil disobedience because we are at a point that morally we have a duty to standup to the greatest extent that we can.”
Ms Weiler speaks passionately about the climate with her drive partly rooted in her study of Sustainable Development. Her course left her wondering what she could do to help while still manacled by the necessity of education. She explains, “We need action in the next ten years.” In March, during a protest in Edinburgh, she was arrested. She found the police were “pretty kind” as she was a non-violent protestor. Ms Weiler felt that “a lot of times you can tell they don’t really want to arrest you, it’s an order they have to follow – you are breaking the law – it’s their job.” She received support from Extinction Rebellion members who picked her up upon release. Ms Weiler, speaking from experience, felt that the policy of disruption and opening up to arrest is “not so radical if you look at the facts.”
Many see Extinction Rebellion as virtue-signalling home county dwellers, gluing themselves to government departments whilst their Agas remain burning at home, keeping the Labradors warm. The pair acknowledged the criticism that Extinction Rebellion is dominated by the middle-class. Mr Mason agreed that “it is a problem,” while Ms Weiler noted that it’s a privilege to be able to be arrested “without severe consequences”, a privilege that Mr Mason felt should be exercised “for the better”. He added that Extinction Rebellion is not a “monolithic single movement” with “principles of inclusion and diversity” enshrined in its constitution, though “they could be deployed a bit more.” Mr Mason believes such reflexivity is a strength of Extinction Rebellion. Ms Weiler noted that “there are a lot of subgroups”, such as XR Disabled Rebels and XR Jews, one of whom is a 77-year-old rabbi who was arrested near the Bank of England. She noted that many “people [are] working behind the scenes.”
The wider Extinction Rebellion Scotland (XRS) group put out a statement on Facebook regarding two images, one of the man being pulled off the tube train at Canning Town — which group highlighting that it was a working class area which suffered from austerity — and another of flowers and a thank you being sent by Extinction Rebellion arrestees to a Brixton Police station “where black men have died in custody.” The group noted that while the climate crisis will come for everyone, it is the global south, those in poverty, and those experiencing structural injustice who will suffer most. They claim that by refusing to name colonialism and capitalism as the cause of the climate crisis and social injustice, Extinction Rebellion will continue alienating people. XRS assert that they are responding to these concerns; for example, with banners reading “DECOLONISE XR” and “CLIMATE STRUGGLE = CLASS STRUGGLE”, something others in XR UK questioned. Branching out without tokenism is essential.
The process of decarbonisation is likely to be difficult. Mr Mason highlights the risk of “huge economic damage for the working class” if states fail “to make sure the action is equitable.” This fits in with one of the three demands of Extinction Rebellion: a citizen’s assembly. Ms Weiler explained that it would be a representative group, selected by sortition, making decisions based on scientific knowledge. “We think it is more democratic than our current system because of the limits partisan politics places on working together.” Mr Mason pointed out how “citizens assemblies have been successfully used in Ireland to decide on abortion laws.”
However, it is the goal of net zero emissions by 2025 which will be the largest challenge. Mr Mason claims that while they are “pushing for an extreme,” it is simply “what the IPCC is telling us to do.” According to Mr Mason, “We’ve come up with a radical figure and are pushing for radical change – if we came up with a figure that’s just ok, we’d be lying to ourselves.” Mr Mason explained that an emeritus professor likened the necessary mobilisation of the nation to restructure the economy towards a sustainable future to that of the “scale of WWII.” Ms Weiler highlights the basic necessity of these changes; by acting now we can control the losses we have to make through responsible and conscious choices. “If we wait another 20 or 30 years without having any binding goals, we will have to face changes to our natural environment which will affect our food [and other systems] anyway.” She believes that with focused intent it is possible; “Where there is political will there is political action, what I think we are lacking is that political will.”
Many point out that nations like China’s net emission of CO2 far outweighs that of the UK. However, as highlighted by Ms Weiler, its per capita footprint is smaller or on par with that of most Western nations, half that of the United States. Ms Weiler notes that what is more determining of “emissions is economic status” with many of the products produced in China being “consumed by the UK and other countries in the West.” Mr Mason believes that pressure can be levied on the UK government and that if “Britain was more proactive in environmental issues in the world, it would be a huge plus for the international community.”
The St Andrews chapter started in November 2018. It was initially a small community coordinating with the larger Edinburgh and Scotland groups. Ms Weiler believes the die-in showed the range of “highly conscious and conscientious protestors that are standing up for the most important cause that within our lifetime will face humanity.” Mr Mason noted that the age gap often presented a technology gap; however, it was clear from their event that they have been successful so far in bridging this gap. Significantly, Extinction Rebellion is self-organising and horizontal in structure. The pair acknowledged that while this has benefits, it also posits a challenge. Chalked slogans and hourglasses were spotted down Muttoes Lane and near the library; Mr Mason felt it was “probably not the way [he’d] go about it” but that it was simply his opinion. Ms Weiler points out that if it abides to the “10 values” they stand for, it can be seen as an XR action. She noted that they cannot “take a standpoint for everyone else in the group.”
The planet is in a desperate condition. Decrying activists, whether you agree with their actions or not, cannot solve this. Extinction Rebellion St Andrews feels passionately about this issue. For more information you can find them on Facebook at: @ExtinctionRebellionStAndrews
