Climate System Change: A Study on Creative Expressions in Activist Practices of Extinction Rebellion Netherlands

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Climate System Change

A study on creative expressions in activist practices of Extinction Rebellion Netherlands

Written by Student number MSc Thesis Supervisor Second Reader Date Word Count Amaya Verschuur 11963263

Conflict Resolution and Governance University of Amsterdam

Dr. Gijsbert van Iterson Scholten Dr. Martijn Dekker

June 2020 21,444

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Acknowledgements

Writing a thesis in times of Covid-19 can be a lonely and gruelling task, so I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the people who made this possible.

First and foremost, I would like to thank the individuals from Extinction Rebellion in the Netherlands who trusted me with their stories and insights. Your devotion and courage to fight for a better world is inspiring. To Adil, Celine, Jasper, Malik, Martine, Roel, Sjoerd, and Vivianne thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Second, this thesis would not have been possible without the help of my supervisor Gijsbert van Iterson Scholten, who regardless of the crazy ideas I came up with, always remained infectiously enthusiastic. Thank you for continuously telling me that it would all turn out alright. Moreover, my thanks to my second reader, Martijn Dekker, who put me on this path almost two years ago by showing me the power, challenges and beauty of social movements.

Lastly, thank you to all my family, colleagues, friends and those I met along the way. Special thanks to my parents for all the moral support, the countless dinners and the games, to Djoera because in her own words “she is just the best”, and to Ana, Anna, Eva, Julie, Laura, Mette and Tessa for sharing my breakthroughs with me and listening to my doubts. To all of you thank you.

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List of Figures

Figure 1 Integrating the five A's of creativity. (Glăveanu, 2013, p. 72) ... 9 Figure 2 A selection of stickers, posters, graffiti and chalk actions that I discovered throughout Amsterdam during the period of intelligent lockdown in the Netherlands. ... 35 Figure 3 Images of the process of creation of the blue puppet and the final result taken by Celine (consent was given to publish these photos in this thesis). The bottom picture is at a protest at Amsterdam Lights Festival in the winter of 2020. ... 39

The image on the cover of this thesis is a scanned copy of a pennant given to me by one of my respondents (Martine). Permission was given to use this image on the cover page.

List of Acronyms

XR Extinction Rebellion

XRUK Extinction Rebellion United Kingdom

XRNL Extinction Rebellion Netherlands

RRB Red Rebel Brigade

RRNL Red Rebels Netherlands

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Chapter 1 Introduction

This is an Emergency and we will do what we believe to be necessary. - Rebel Starting Pack (Extinction Rebellion, 2019, p. 7)

On April 8, 2020 in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Dutch weekly newspaper De

Groene Amsterdammer headlined with “It is not the fault of the bat”, “viruses such as Ebola

and Corona are nature’s warning signals. Man has destroyed the balance between (wild) animals and their surroundings” (Bloemink, 2020).1_{Around the same time, the New York}

Times, The Guardian and Al Jazeera all similarly published articles on the relationship between climate change, the destruction of natural habitats and the increase in zoonotic diseases (Carrington, 2020; Gomera, 2020; Quammen, 2020). The pandemic is arguably the latest development in an increasingly long list of ramifications caused by, among others, “ozone depletion, freshwater availability, marine life depletion, ocean dead zones, forest loss, biodiversity destruction, climate change, and continued human population growth” (Ripple et al., 2017, p. 1026). Increasingly, people are expressing a growing dissatisfaction towards the governments’ ineptitude in tackling these complex issues. Consequently, the last few years have also seen the emergence of a growing number of climate movements across the globe; among these Extinction Rebellion has emerged as a significant player. (Graeber, 2019; Taylor, Watts & Bartlett, 2019).

The climate movement Extinction Rebellion (XR) first appeared in the public arena on 31 October 2018 when a group of 1500 individuals assembled on Parliament Square in London and announced a ‘declaration of rebellion’ against the government of the United Kingdom for its (perceived) failure to address climate change adequately (XR, 2019; XR, n.d.-a). Rooted in a philosophy of nonviolent civil disobedience the movement started a train of actions in the following weeks and months that included a blockade of major bridges in London, the planting of trees in Parliament square and the burial of a symbolic coffin representing the future (Ibid.). The widely publicized events seemed to resonate with individuals across the globe and

1_{Throughout this thesis multiple texts and quotes from respondents have been translated from Dutch to English} by the author. For the original citations in Dutch see Appendix B.

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catalysed a rapidly growing movement that has now spread to 62 countries with 1050 local branches (Extinction Rebellion Netherlands (XRNL), n.d.-b).

In the Netherlands, XR currently has 29 branches, located in many of the major cities, some of which are connected to different universities throughout the country (Extinction Rebellion Global, n.d.). Similar to its British counterpart, XRNL has three central demands for the Dutch government: “tell the truth about the climate and ecological crisis that threatens our existence and communicate the urgency for change, act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025 in a just and fair manner, and let citizens decide by establishing a citizen’s assembly which takes the lead on climate and ecological justice” [italics added] (XRNL, n.d.-b). Within the Dutch branches, smaller groups, or circles as they are called within XR, take up specific tasks and work together through the idea of a decentralized, ‘self-organizing’ system (XRNL, n.d.-c). The circles consist of ‘Media & Communication’, Outreach & Training’, ‘Action & Logistics’, ‘Political Strategy’, ‘Integration’, ‘Finance’, ‘Tech and legal Team’, ‘Regenerative Culture’, and ‘Arts’ (Ibid.). It is specifically the presence of this last circle, the Arts Circle, that inspired the writing of this thesis.

While the use of arts is not new within social movements, the explicitness with which XR addresses the arts merits further consideration. Moreover, the notion of creativity seems deeply embedded in the movement’s practices and seems central to how XR conceptualizes itself. For example, in a short piece explaining “why we exist”, XR Netherlands stated that, “We take creative, peaceful and sometimes disruptive action, to compel our government to take the necessary measures against the climate and ecological crisis” [italics added] (XRNL, n.d.-b). The focus of this thesis will therefore be to identify and analyse creative activist practices of individuals within Extinction Rebellion Netherlands and to position them within the broader societal context. Within this broader framework, special emphasis was placed on how XRNL’s protest actions were performed and the role bodies and emotions played within this. This thesis therefore aimed to answer the following question: How is protest creatively

enacted by individuals within Extinction Rebellion Netherlands?

The above research question is built on two constituent theoretic parts within the context of protest: creativity and enactment. While creativity is often discussed in relation to the arts, within this thesis I follow a slightly broader definition in which creativity is seen as “the ability to make or otherwise bring into existence something new” (Britannica Academic, 2020). Within this understanding of creativity, the notion of an action, an actor, an audience and an interaction with the material world are incorporated, as will be further substantiated in the theoretical

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framework. In the analysis, I therefore look at how and which creative acts are used within XRNL, how XRNL activists conceptualize the role of creativity and how we can understand these as situated within the broader historical, social and material surroundings. Second, these acts have inherent embodied aspect, raising the questions on what role these bodies play within the protests of XRNL, how they interact with each other and what effects they have on their surroundings. To answer this question I analysed photos, videos, posters and graphics published on various social media channels of XRNL in addition to conducting a series of semi-structured interviews in the months of April and May 2020. While the period of study ranged the movement’s inception in the final months of 2018 until May 2020, a number of specific events and demonstrations will be highlighted in the following chapters that make visible certain patterns and interactions in the movement.

1.1 Chapter Outline

This thesis is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 2 will give an overview of the theories on which this research is grounded, following which Chapter 3 will discuss a number of ethical considerations and the methodology that was implemented. With this in mind, the next three chapters form the analysis section of this thesis. Chapter 4 will analyse how individuals position themselves and the movement in the larger societal context and how a sense of connectivity is forged through the actions of XRNL, by looking at the role of bodies and emotions. Chapter 5 will then look at how XRNL activists conceptualize the role of creativity and the logic behind certain enactments of protests. Lastly, Chapter 6 will look at the function of arrests within the movement and how this ties into notions of privilege and precarity. Chapter 7 will then combine these diverse discussions on the creative enactment of protests and end with some concluding remarks.

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Chapter 2 Theoretical Framework

How can we understand the significance of thousands of people standing in a square, shouting in unison to demand change, or lying for dead blocking pedestrians wishing to pass as a creative act? What happens to the individuals joining in these protests, and how does this in turn affect their surroundings? And does the act of sticking a sticker to a lamppost (or of discovering a sticker stuck to a lamppost) engender any transformation in the person or a society at large? In the following section I will give a brief general overview of developments within and debates surrounding creative expressions in activism. The first section is devoted to getting a better understanding of creativity as a general concept. The next section gives a brief overview of a select number of historical movements that are often seen as influential in the development of creative practices within social movements. This will then lead to a discussion on how protest is enacted; herein Butler’s theory of performativity will form the basis from which to depart. The last section will connect these theories on the performative aspects of protest to the concept of creative action. Throughout these discussions the role of the body is of central importance, both the individual body, as well as the interaction between this body and that body, or this body and the surrounding space. I will argue that looking at bodies is essential to understand the dynamics at play within creative enactment of protest.

2.1 Understanding creativity

Creative expressions within activist practices have existed for a long time in an enormous variety, ranging from graffiti art to flash mobs, street blockades to adbusting, and have thus garnered extensive scholarly work that tries to understand the significance of these acts (Özden Firat & Kuryel, 2010). Interestingly however, what exactly is meant by creativity often remains implicit within these discussions. While an extensive discussion on the debates surrounding creativity is beyond the scope of this thesis, it is worth reflecting on how creativity can be both understood and operationalized. In this thesis I use the words creativity, creative acts, creative expressions, artistic practices and art, often almost interchangeably. Although there are semantic differences and it could be debated if certain activist practices can be considered ‘art’, this is not the aim of my work. Instead, whilst acknowledging this tension, I consciously chose

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9 not to narrowly define what I considered creative or artistic acts within social movements, but instead to look at the creativity and artistry in all acts, while focusing on how expressions of creativity and/or art are conceptualized by individuals in XRNL and function within the movement.

In order to address the interdependence of creative action with its material, social and cultural surroundings, the five A’s framework – actor, action, artifact, audience, affordance – developed by Vlad Petre Glăveanu (2013) provided a practical starting point. In incorporating recent developments from sociocultural psychology that conceptualize mental processes not as solely arising inside the mind but as “being situated and distributed between brain and body, person and environment”, Glăveanu namely advocates for a “more contextual and situated conception” of creativity than what is currently often used (Glăveanu, 2013, pp.70-71). In other words, he argues that “the actor exists only in relation to an audience, action cannot take place outside of interactions with a social and material world [defined as affordances], and artifacts embody the cultural traditions of different communities” (Glăveanu, 2013, p. 71). This is aptly summarized in Figure 1 where creative action is firmly placed in the centre of the interrelated triangle actor-artifact-audience, all of which exist in a social and material world. In relation to activist creative actions, this organization of creativity into five A’s can serve as a methodological tool, or ‘contextual organizer’, from which an analysis of specific creative actions can depart (Glăveanu, 2013, pp. 76-77).

Figure 1 Integrating the five A's of creativity. (Glăveanu, 2013, p. 72)

While there is much merit to the pragmatic approach of Glăveanu (2013), creativity, especially when related more directly to artistic activist practices, also retains an almost mystical quality. To better understand this we turn towards Augusto Boal, a performance-activist, founder of the Theatre of the Oppressed and icon in the theatre world. In his work The

Aesthetics of Theatre, Boal stated that, “the artist perceives and reveals unicities hidden by the

simplification of the language which names them and the senses which group them without perceiving them” (Boal 2006, p. 17). In other words, artistic actions can bring to light dynamics

within a physical, social, and cultural environment. In the end, this environment and its affordances are also gradually transformed by creative action because the schema presents a dynamic integration of the five A’s: actors, audiences, and affordances in interaction, dependent on properties of local settings that are themselves part of the creative cycle. Before discussing each of the five elements, it is important to mention finally that they are not meant to revise the history of the discipline. We are not, for instance, to call “actor” what we called “person” before. The present framework aims to offer an alternative position for writing and thinking about creativity, one that could transform creativity research and lead it toward a truly systemic and situated theoretical model.

From Person to Actor

The actor is a person embedded in the field of social relations specific for any human community and society. Referring to actors acknowledges people as socialized selves, as beings that are shaped by a sociocultural context and act from within it, in coordination with others, to change and mold this context in suitable ways. Therefore, an actor is simultaneously learning and performing societal scripts and being an agent, active in relation to these scripts and in relation to other actors. Such are the insights afforded by sociocultural psychology regarding the development and functioning of the person. Following Markus and Hamedani’s (2007) formulation, “people exist everywhere in social networks, in groups, in communities, and in relationships” (p. 4). This reality either escaped or was stubbornly ignored by creativity researchers interested in the personality or cognitive profile of the creative person. Making a list of traits or cognitive factors, for as compre-hensive as it may be, tells us nothing about how people come to acquire those traits, how they might employ them in relation with other people, what happens when the social environment is favor-able or adverse to a certain set of personal characteristics, and so forth. Above all, this research is usually silent about how these features help people perform their roles in their respective groups. Moreover, it is often forgotten that “the act of a man creating is the act of a whole man” (Bruner, 1962, p. 18) and not of a certain personality constellation or cognitive style.

Unfortunately, in the psychology of creativity, research on the creative person has worked to the exclusion of the social context surrounding the person. By focusing on the individual, any back-ground element became secondary and so did the many ties

con-measuring and comparing personality, intelligence, and creativity scores, completely abstracts the person from his or her context (Amabile, 1996). The participant undergoing psychometric testing is considered to be the “average”, rather “universal” subject, and this takes away both individuality and recognition of particular life situations. The rise of the individual and its prominence over context has in any case a longer history in psychology and even beyond it. The study of creativity embodied this concern through a persistent fascination with the image of the genius or the ex-traordinary person. Both strands of Romanticism and Enlighten-ment contributed to the “elevation of the individual self” (Weiner, 2000, p. 78), but the origins of the eminent creator are found in earlier times, from the Renaissance onward (Montuori & Purser, 1995). A genius is traditionally the prototype of the exceptional person who does not only override mundane social relations and realities but unavoidably fights against them and against society’s drive toward uniformity and stability (Gla˘veanu, 2010). The ge-nius might be a major actor of creative production, but it is an actor standing alone on stage, a misleading image that transformed our imaginary of the “truly” creative person for centuries.

In contrast to the description above, the actor I am referring to here is necessarily defined by a system of social relations and cultural traditions regulating these relations (see Figure 2). No creator was ever born outside such an environment given that the existence of other actors is essential for the mere recognition of a creative act (we can be reminded at this point about consensual definitions of creativity; Amabile, 1996). Furthermore, individuals are socialized to create and need a considerable amount of time to learn and practice the actions expected of them before making clear contributions to the knowledge and practices of the group. In the words of Csikszentmihalyi (1999), “one must internalize the rules of the domain and the opinions of the field, so that one can choose the most promising ideas to work on, and do so in a way that will be acceptable to one’s peers” (p. 332). This also resonates with the 10 years’ rule postulated for any major creative achieve-ment (Gardner, 1993). We should consider as well the fact that “scripts,” norms, and practices are changed in more or less minor ways while being learned or internalized. The constant generative power of social actors rests in their capacity to be selective and constructive in engaging with any cultural material (Valsiner, 1997). Choices and personal preferences are certainly not excluded from the paradigm of sociocultural psychology and the individual self “using its capacity for reflection and for envisaging alterna-tives, escapes or reevaluates or reformulates what the culture has on offer” (Bruner, 1999, p. 110).

To conclude, “switching” from person to actor is consequential for the way in which we come to understand and study this actor and his or her life and work. It reminds us of the fact that personal structures cannot exist outside of social structures and the latter owe their dynamic transformation to the former. The actor ap-proach has other implications as well. It makes creators much more active and responsible for promoting their creations (Kasof, 1999), thus integrating the persuasion factor referred to by Simonton (1988). This is also in line with the investment view according to which creative persons buy low and sell high, meaning they adopt unusual ideas, then actively try to convince others of their value,

CREATIVE ACTION

ACTOR AUDIENCE

NEW ARTIFACT

MATERIAL AND SOCIO-CULTURAL AFFORDANCES

Figure 2. Integrating the five A’s of creativity.

This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. 72 GLA˘VEANU

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in our world that are often hidden beneath the surface. Hence, Boal believed that the cross-fertilization of art, creativity, theatre and politics had the power to raise awareness, challenge narratives and/or disrupt social realities. While these dynamics are undoubtedly different within social movements, the idea that some forms of knowledge cannot easily be described with words and that artistic practices can facilitate or express these ineffable forms of knowledge, is shared among many artists, activists and scholars alike (Eisner 2008; Boal 2006). Given this understanding of creative activist practices as both situated in a social and material world and as communicating through complex, sometimes ineffable ways, the next section will delve deeper into historical developments of creative social movement practices.

2.2 A very brief historical overview of art and activism

In order to begin to unravel the situatedness that Glăveanu (2013) argues for, the following paragraphs will give a very brief historical overview of developments of creative actions within protests in the 20th_{and 21}st_{centuries. Herein, I follow Tilly’s (2008) line of argument that}

contentious performances oscillate between continuity and improvisation, thereby drawing and learning from a historically developed “limited repertoire of performances” (p. 11) while also innovating performances to better suit the context.1_{At the same time, I concur with Jasper}

(1999) that to understand the choices within these repertoires looking at moral and strategic components is also necessary. Thus, protestors choose specific tactics based on a “combination of internal preferences and external, strategic considerations” (Jasper, 1999, p. 237).

Looking back at the past century, multiple scholars have argued that social movements often come in ‘waves’, significantly increasing at specific times and places and feeding into each other (Milkman, 2017). While there are some tried and tested methods can be found in many movements, such as demonstrations with banners and leaflets, creative expressions have also changed through time (Kershaw, 1997; Özden Firat & Kuryel, 2010). Within academic debates on the interrelation between the arts, performance and social movements, the civil rights movement, the counterculture movements of the 1960’s, and the ACT-UP movement in the United States are often seen as benchmarks for the use of performance-based protest tactics, such as songs and theatre (Foster, 2003; Kershaw, 1997; O’Neill, 2004; Spiegel, 2015). In

1_{Taking a historical approach, Tilly (2008, pp. 5-7) defines contentious politics as collective actions where certain} actors make claims towards others, in which the government is also involved in some way or another. It therefore unites three aspects: “contention, collective action, and politics” (p. 5). Social movements are then a specific form of contentious politics with a “limited range of claim-making performances” (p.7). Due to the limited scope of this research, I refrain from giving a comprehensive discussion of what does and does not constitute as a ‘social movement’ and keep to XRNL’s conceptualization of themselves as a social movement.

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addition to the social movements in the 1960s, the protests in Seattle in 1999 of the anti-globalization movement also instigated a shift in activist practices to one in which playfulness, carnivalesque atmospheres and confusion took a more central role (Özden Firat & Kuryel, 2010, p. 11).1_{Among the range of tactics used in these protests were colourful street}

performances with giant puppets, sit- and die-ins, street parties and blockades (Ibid.). These carnivalesque practices not only created an alternative, more embodied language of knowing and confrontation but also served to misdirect the police, gain media and public attention and to challenge the system in creative ways (Özden Firat & Kuryel, 2010, p. 12).

The (methods of) protests briefly described above laid the foundation for a new wave of protests which gained traction after the financial crisis in 2008 (Milkman, 2017; Riofrancos, 2017). Some examples within this new wave are the revolutionary demonstrations in the Middle East and North Africa, often denoted the ‘Arab Spring’, the tobacco workers’ protests in Turkey, the student protests in Chile, the global Occupy Wall Street movement and the Black Lives Matter movement in the USA (Riofrancos, 2017; Kuryel and Özden Firat, 2013). While there is much diversity in the context and aim of these demonstrations, one can also identify similarities in terms of activist strategies and political themes (Ibid.). Making an overarching comparison, Kuryel and Özden Firat (2013) argued that thematically many contemporary movements shared a claim against “the expansion of market principles, profit-oriented structures and privatization of the commons, in short, the diffusion of the neoliberal logic” (p. 42) and the increased precarity that this has caused. In their argument neoliberalism and precarity are two sides of the same coin, both of which have seeped into all spheres of life, including the political, economic, social and importantly also the bodily ways one lives. Hence, protest originates from these various spheres and culminates in a demand for a better life (Ibid.). In her study on four large social movements in the United States of America – the ‘Dreamers’ movement of undocumented migrants, the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement, the Black Lives Matter movement and the anti-sexual assault campus movement – Milkman (2017) also argued that while each targeted a different issue, there were some distinct similarities that characterized these new movements. Firstly, within all four movements college-educated Millennials, “whose lived experiences and worldviews sharply distinguish them from previous

1_{While not the first protest against globalization, the movement in Seattle, dubbed the ‘global justice movement’,} ‘movement of movements’ or the ‘anti-globalization movement’, started a wave of protests throughout the world for over three years (O’Neill, 2004). For four days a diverse group of 30,000 to 50,000 people gathered to protest at the Third Ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) (Özden Firat & Kuryel, 2010, p. 11; O’Neill, 2004).

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generations of youthful activists” played a key role (Milkman, 2017, p. 2). While on average Millennials are higher educated than previous generations and are the first generation of “digital natives”, their lives have arguably also been shaped by an increasingly precarious labour market. These experiences left a mark on the development of the movements and could be seen in for example the extensive and efficient use of social media to mobilize and organize but also in the fact that the movements shared a similar discourse of intersectionality (Milkman, 2017).1_{In the following section, I will further discuss how these demands can be better}

understood by looking at how protest is enacted (through bodies) across time and space.

2.3 Performing protest

In her essay Fighting in the Streets: Dramaturgies of Popular Protest, Baz Kershaw, a prominent theatre scholar, stated that “it would be useful to investigate the theatrical and the performative in the political” rather than solely the “political in theatre” (Kershaw, 1997, p. 255). In line with this much recent scholarship has focused on performative aspects of activism, centred around the role of the body (McGarry, 2019; Lilja, 2017). While not all forms of protest involve the physical presence of bodies, scholars have increasingly argued that bodies can and often do play a central role in protests, creating opportunities of intervention, disruption, persuasion and resistance (Butler, 2015; Foster, 2003; Kershaw, 1997). Without having to say a word, the mere presence of a group of bodies can already be an ‘expressive action’, both showing that this group that is standing here (still) exists, as well as showing that there is some shared condition (Butler, 2015). Hence, to understand protest demonstrations, analysing the interactions between demonstrating bodies and between these bodies and their surroundings is also necessary. Who are these bodies? What do they share with each other and what role do they play in demonstrations?

Judith Butler (2015) seeks to understand this complexity through the notions of ‘performativity’ and ‘precarity’, which she sees as the commonality in different protests. In short, she argues that, “when bodies assemble on the street, in the square, or in other forms of public space (including virtual ones) they are exercising a plural and performative right to appear, one that asserts and instates the body in the midst of the political field, and which, in its expressive and signifying function, delivers a bodily demand for a more liveable set of economic, social, and political conditions no longer afflicted by induced forms of precarity”

1_{Intersectionality is a concept derived from academia but is currently broadly implemented, which argues that} categories such as gender, sexuality, race and class cannot be seen separately but influence each other (see for example Crenshaw, 1989 or for intersectionality in the Dutch context Wekker, 2004).

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(Butler, 2015, p. 11). If we separate this argument into the three features of contentious politics we get: an embodied contention (against precarity), an embodied collective action and a

placement of the body within politics.

Butler’s notion of bodily performativity, which is similar but distinct from linguistic performativity, can further be understood as bodies vocalizing their resistance by virtue of gathering in the same place (Butler, 2015; Lilja, 2017). Moreover, the very fact that protestors stand together “moving shoulder to shoulder”, creates a ‘collective connectivity’ that can in some way bridge the unique, personal history of each individual (Foster, 2003, p. 412). At the same time bodies that assemble are also ambiguous, and move and react in unique ways, continuously navigating between the ‘I’ and the ‘we’ of the assembly. Butler explains this plurality of coordinated action as follows, “this movement or stillness, this parking of my body in the middle of another’s action, is neither my act nor yours, but something that happens by virtue of the relation between us, arising from that relation, equivocating between the I and the we” (Butler, 2015, p. 9). Hence, collective action is never completely uniform, does not communicate one single message, and is embodied in a variety of ways. In Butler’s words, “to act in concert does not mean to act in conformity” (p. 157). In analysing activist practices this ambiguity and plurality of collective action needs to be taken into account. Moreover, in order to further understand this creation of a collective the next sections will turn to the roles of emotions and space.

2.3.1 Bodies and emotions

Building on the previously mentioned theories, Mona Lilja (2017) argues that to understand how bodies can articulate meaning above and beyond what is verbally expressed and how they can become connected, it is necessary to include an analysis of the relation between bodies, matter and emotions. First, Lilja notes that when bodies gather in public spaces an amalgam of bodily and linguistic performativity arises that articulates a political message, which becomes strengthened through the continuous interaction between the two. Emotions also play an important role in the strengthening of the political message. Following Ahmed (2014), Lilja argues that emotions are not stationary but circulate and through this circulation can intensify over time (Lilja, 2017, p. 347). The bodies that assemble convey and transfer different emotions, such as anger, frustration or sadness, which in turn gives meaning to these bodies and can create a bond between them. The circulation of emotions creates the effect of “align[ing] individuals with communities”, moving in different directions, “against others, against political institutions and their embodied figurations” (Ibid.). Or according to Ahmed,

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“it is through emotions, or how we respond to objects and others, that surfaces or boundaries are made: the ‘I’ and the ‘we’ are shaped by, and even take the shape of, contact with others” (Ahmed, 2014, p.10). Consequently, to understand the collectivity of action, emotions also need to be incorporated in an analysis.

2.3.2 Bodies and space

In addition to emotions, space also plays an important role in how the ‘we’ of assemblies is created. When protesting bodies assemble, they are not only interacting with other bodies, be it their fellow protestors or those witnessing the demonstration, but also interact in complex ways with the space that they are in (reminiscent of Glăveanu’s (2013) notion of affordances). This space is not neutral, but in the case of mass gatherings often has a symbolic public relation to powers that are being opposed (Butler, 2015, p. 71-72). Thus, the history of a certain square or street as well as the architecture of this space creates material conditions for the gathering. At the same time, gatherings, by virtue of inhabiting and laying claim to the space, also “reconfigure the materiality of public space” (Butler, 2015, p. 71).

While this gathering of bodies in a square or street carries significant power, the co-optation of a public space is often only temporary. Movements consequently need to find ways to ensure that the collective stays intact, even when not physically together. According to Juris (2012) and Nicghabhann (2018), who respectively studied the Occupy and Irish Repeal the 8th

Amendments movements, social media can be valuable in countering disaggregation. Namely, the posting of texts and images, the use of hashtags and the sharing of others’ posts can create an important addition to a movement by keeping individuals engaged between and after physical gatherings (Juris, 2012; Nicghabhann, 2018). Another method to facilitate continued engagement is to inscribe resistance into everyday experiences, by for example wearing t-shirts or badges that signify the movement, or by diffusing symbols throughout public spaces (Nicghabban, 2018). Examples of the latter are sticker or graffiti campaigns that disperse symbols, images or short texts throughout less high-profile public spaces than the prominent squares of streets often used in demonstrations. To this end, Nicghabban (2018, pp. 10-11) makes a useful distinction between respectively ‘monumental’ and ‘edge spaces’, arguing that acts of creativity in these ‘edge spaces’ (lampposts, public bathroom stalls or walls for example) play a significant role in spreading the message through continuous “repetition and reproduction.” These forms of protest still include a performative aspect. By wearing a protest t-shirt for example, an individual body still aligns itself with the collective, albeit in a more diffused form than a public gathering.

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In conclusion, I argue that in order to understand the collective aspect of the creative enactment of protest it is important to incorporate analyses of the body, emotions and space in all their ambiguity and plurality. In the next section, I will return to creativity and incorporate the insights above into this theory.

2.4 Returning to creativity

Tactics are rarely, if ever, neutral means about which protestors do not care. Tactics represent important routines, emotionally and morally salient in these peoples’ lives. (Jasper, 1999, p. 237)

Throughout the works addressing the relation between bodies, emotions, and space there is often a common proposition that the performative aspects of protest can prefigure a new way of life and politics (Butler, 2015; Riofrancos, 2017; Spiegel, 2015). Within this nexus creativity comes back into play. Kuryel and Özden Firat (2013) argue that creativity, when it maintains its connection to the ‘materiality of social struggle’, opens up spaces for transformation. In building their argument, Kuryel and Özden Firat (2013) make use of a helpful distinction of two strategies for collective action, disruption and confrontation (first articulated by Scholl, 2011). They then argue that for creative acts to achieve a material outcome they need to balance and combine these two strategies.

Although the distinction is never so neatly made in real life, Scholl (2011) distinguishes four premises of ‘the logic of disruption’: “the temporality of a rupture, the importance of participatory self-production, the orientation between confusion and subversion, and finally, the will to provide an exemplary gesture” (p. 159). First, Scholl (2011) argues that activist art often attempts to create temporary ‘cracks’ in everyday life. This rupture of business as usual is seen as an important way to question and challenge the status quo as well as to create the idea of a (temporary) community with all those protesting. A clear example of such a logic can be seen in the Seattle protests in which carnivalesque aspects were incorporated to create joyful, momentary spectacles to challenge the capitalist system. Second, the logic of disruption often emphasizes that activists should create artifacts themselves instead of purchasing them, as artifacts that are created through capitalist production processes inherently contradict the contentious claim (Scholl, 2011, pp. 162-163). Refusing to contribute to this form of economy again creates a temporary withdrawal from the current system. Third, some activist creative practices follow the idea that temporarily confusing spectators or subverting dominant symbols and discourses are ways to disrupt hegemonic practices (Scholl, 2011, pp. 163-165). A classic

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example of this is an adbust action in which the ‘S’ of the Shell logo was covered so that the logo became ‘hell’, thereby shining a light on the controversial ethics of the company. Last, Scholl (2011, pp. 166-167) argues that art interventions are often conceptualized as ways through which a better future is envisioned by enacting that better future in the specific moment: setting a good example. This prefigurative politics however runs the risk of becoming elitist when it does not acknowledge that certain ethical considerations can be costly and therefore not open to less privileged communities (Ibid.). While this logic of disruption has its benefits in specific contexts, what becomes clear in Scholl’s (2011) work, is that the temporal aspects of this rationale mean that at its core, this logic is fatalistic: “it seems to suggest that the world cannot be changed, but merely momentarily disrupted” (p. 161).

In contrast, ‘the logic of confrontation’ is based on the following premises: “the negation of representation, instrumental reckoning, an antagonistic conception of the world and, finally, the pedagogical dialectics” (Scholl, 2011, p. 167). First, Scholl (2011, pp. 168-169) argues that in contrast to a disruptive logic, which tries to refer to and thereby subvert practices, the logic of confrontation creates something alternative and new. Second, artistic interventions in confrontation are measured by their material results, by their capacity to destroy or transform the existing system, not by their capacity to temporarily disrupt (Scholl, 2011, pp. 169-171). In line with this, the confrontational logic also contains an antagonistic conception of the world in which the political is seen as a space of conflict by adversaries (Scholl, 2011, pp. 171-172). Hence activist practices following this logic often attempt to clearly portray which side should be seen as the opponent, which side holds the monopoly of violence, while simultaneously embodying a challenge to said opponent. While this type of protest often takes up predictable tactics such as blockades or street demonstrations, artistic interventions can create innovative ways that still reflect this antagonistic view. Lastly, Scholl (2011, pp. 173-174) argues that the logic of confrontation can also serve as a pedagogical tool in which spectators and activists alike are made aware of who is an adversary (and why) through the physical encounter of confrontation. Importantly, Scholl argues that the ‘logic of confrontation’ solely retains its power if it is continuously innovated in order to avoid ritualization, and therefore returning to a mere disruption (Ibid.).

With these distinctions in mind, Kuryel and Özden Firat (2013) state that protest movements should incorporate both strategies to achieve a desired material outcome. However, in their view the focus within contemporary activist practices often lies solely with disruption, thereby creating a situation in which creativity’s sole purpose is seen to raise awareness. Moreover, they warn that the emphasis on creativity in recent decades has in some cases led to

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an atmosphere in which creative innovation is put on a pedestal above all else without being critically assessed; therefore not leading to any significant change (Kuryel and Özden Firat, 2013; Spiegel, 2015). Consequently, the potential to obtain material outcomes, to experiment with new ways of living and organizing, is neglected.

It is my belief that the differentiation between these two types of logic can be useful to better understand the choices behind - and the role of - creative actions in activist practices. Within this it is also important to address the role of bodies, emotions and space. Combining these elements can shed light on how these actions shape and are in turn shaped by the movement and the individuals within it and how this can be understood within the broader societal context within which the movement operates. In the following sections, these various deliberations will be empirically examined with the case of XRNL, thereby answering the question how protest is creatively enacted by XRNL.

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Chapter 3 Research Design and Methodology

In the following chapter the chosen research design will be outlined. Taking a reflexive model of science as starting point, this research is grounded in the belief that knowledge is created through the interaction of researcher and participant (Burawoy, 1998). The chapter will start with brief theoretical reflection, followed by a discussion of the case selection. The ensuing sections will be devoted to a positioning of the author, a discussion of the ethical principles which were followed, and the methods used for data gathering will. The chapter will end with a short discussion of the limitations of the research.

Throughout this research I have been inspired by scholars such as Graeber (2004) and Burawoy (1998), looking at my role as a researcher not as isolated from the field of research, but as continuously in a process of dialogue, “enjoin[ing] what positive science separates: participant and observer, knowledge and social situations, situations and its field of location, folk theory and academic theory” (Burawoy, 1998, p. 14). Moreover, I seek to “look at those who are creating viable alternatives, try to figure out what might be the larger implications of what they are (already) doing, and then offer those ideas back, not as prescriptions, but as contributions, possibilities – as gifts” (Graeber, 2004, p. 12). Within this, reflecting on my own positionality and blind spots is essential and will be done in the following sections.

Additionally, this thesis is grounded in the understanding that knowledge should not be conceptualized as solely a linguistic endeavour, but that knowing also finds its origin in a sensory, expressive experience (Eisner, 2008, p. 3-13). Consequently, I follow Eisner’s argument that words are “proxies for direct experience” that “are like cues to guide us on a journey” (Eisner, 2008, p. 7). Accordingly, Eisner and others advocated for an arts-informed research approach that makes use of artistic methods to facilitate “deep conversations” as opposed to “error-free conclusions” (Eisner, 2008, p. 8; Given, 2008). While this thesis is still a largely linguistic endeavour, I have sought to account for these limitations of language by incorporating different methodologies and sources and continuously reflecting on what sensory experiences I and others have had that might be difficult to articulate.

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3.1 Case selection

As will be further discussed in the following sections, the research conducted took a qualitative approach to the case of Extinction Rebellion in the Netherlands. This was done for a number of reasons. First, due to XR being a relatively new movement, little scholarly work has yet analysed the movement and much remains to be explored. Moreover, a qualitative method was chosen in order to be able to generate detailed, in-depth descriptions and situated knowledge and thereby move towards a theory on how to understand the creative and performative acts of individuals within XRNL as part and parcel of larger societal context in which protestors live. XRNL is a compelling case to study in relation to creative practices as XRNL so explicitly incorporated creativity into the structure of the movement and extensively made use of theatrical elements and creative artifacts in their activist practices both off- and online. Furthermore, thinking about the role of the body within these activist practices is especially relevant as the current movement restrictions due to Covid-19 have inhibited many traditional forms of protest. The restrictions have arguably also facilitated the use of alternative tactics and heightened the importance of a social media presence for activism, something XRNL has extensively made use of. To give just one example, on April 17 XRNL placed thousands of empty shoes donated by “rebels from all around the Netherlands” on the square outside of the Dutch parliament to protest “emergency aid to large polluters”, symbolizing the continued resistance despite restrictions (XRNL, 2020b). Hence, by looking both at past protests and currently enacted protests within XRNL, both its continuity and its innovation, both off- and online, I hope to further unravel the complexly interrelated dynamics of body, emotions, space, creativity and protest.

3.2 Positioning and Ethical Considerations

As was shortly discussed in the introduction, at the time of this research the Netherlands and the world at large were struggling under the weight of the Covid-19 pandemic: death tolls were high, hospitals were at maximum capacity, an (intelligent) lockdown had forced many people to stay at home and unemployment was rising (Pelgrim, 2020; Venhuizen, 2020). These factors, in addition to the fear and insecurity that Covid-19 generated had a significant effect on the mental health of many people, myself included (Ibid.). In light of these developments the principle of do-no-harm, a fundamental guideline to any research, took on new importance. Hence, in each step of the research both the mental and physical health implications for the participants were taken into account.

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First, as the advice of the government in the Netherlands was to stay at home as much as possible, most of the interviews were conducted either through zoom or skype, depending on the preference of the interviewee. Two exceptions were made, the first was due to the participant feeling more comfortable talking at a safe distance in a park, the second was due to the participant being confined in the same building as I was. Each participant was asked for permission to record the interview and to utilize the information for the purpose of this research, whereby the limitations of the privacy measures of the medium were also shortly discussed.1_{Moreover, participants were asked if they wished to remain anonymous, if they}

would like to receive a list of quotes before publications and if they subsequently wished to receive the final research results. These steps were taken to ensure that participants had a level of control over how their experiences were narrated in the research and to create a less hierarchical production of knowledge. Strikingly, all my participants wanted to be mentioned by their own name in the thesis, many stating that they were proud of being part of this movement and therefore did not wish to remain anonymous. Hence, to acknowledge this but to still ensure a small degree of anonymity I have used only the first name of each participant.2

Throughout this process it was extremely important to me to try to ensure that the interviews were a positive experience, especially given the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health as well as the mental and physical toll activism can take on its members in general.3_{My aim during the interviews was therefore to create an environment in}

which participants felt safe and felt comfortable talking about experiences that they were proud of, but also to discuss emotions, fears and aspects they were struggling with both within the movement and beyond. As one participant told me at the end of the interview, the interview had given her new motivation and energy to continue in the movement and had given her an opportunity to reflect on the hecticness of the past years. It is my sincere hope that this feeling was shared by other participants as well.

Lastly, it is important to note that my position as a white, young, female researcher from a privileged background in the Netherlands means that there are certain blind spots and power relations that I am (unwittingly) reproducing, especially in relation to issues of precarity and marginalization. Burawoy (1998) divided these effect of power relations into four parts -

1_{With the exponential increase in users since the corona outbreak, zoom has for example received critique for its} security and privacy issues, making it susceptible to hackers (see for example Paul, 2020).

2_{My participants will therefore appear within this thesis as Adil, Celine, Jasper, Malik, Martine, Roel, Sjoerd and} Vivianne.

3_{See for example Kennelly (2014) for a discussion on the negative emotions experienced by young female} activists.

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domination, silencing, objectification, and normalization - all of which contribute making knowledge partial. While these power effects are inevitable, I have sought to actively acknowledge, address and challenge my own thoughts to account for these dynamics. Additionally, while I have not participated in actions organized by Extinction Rebellion, I have participated in multiple climate marches (as well as demonstrations relating to other issues), sympathize with the movement and share many of its core values and beliefs. This too has undoubtedly coloured my analysis. I therefore consider this thesis by no means as comprehensive and strongly believe that there are many more voices still to be heard concerning this topic.

3.3 Research methods

Guided by the theoretical and ethical considerations described in the previous section, the analysis in this research was shaped by a qualitative, descriptive, and interpretative methodological approach. Throughout the entire process thoughts, reflections, and emotions were documented in a field notebook. The period of data gathering can roughly be separated into two (overlapping) phases: an initial phase in which the focus lay on the analysis of photos, videos, graphics and posters dispersed on the various social media channels of XRNL and a second phase in which semi-structured interviews were conducted with various individuals active in XRNL. Because the focus of this research lies predominantly in performative and creative actions, social media was identified as a valuable way to add a visual component (i.e. photos and videos of protests, posters and banners) to the analysis to complement the stories told by participants in interviews.1_{Although participatory observation would have had a}

similar visual function and been a more comprehensive sensory experience, the restrictions on movement due to the Covid-19 outbreak made it impossible to witness any demonstrations or meetings in person. However, this was also an opportunity. While what is communicated by XR’s social media channels is undoubtedly orchestrated and solely portrays mediations of protests and events, the choices that are made by the administrators of these channels also give valuable insights into what is deemed important and how the movement wishes to present itself. Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic created a context in which the use of social media, which was already widely implemented by XR before the outbreak, arguably became even more important. Hence, the mediations of protests on social media was a valuable the point of

1_{Special focus was placed on Facebook and Instagram accounts as they made ample use of visual and auditory} materials.

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departure for looking at how protest was enacted within XRNL both during the pandemic and before.

The visual analysis described above was subsequently also used to identify key concepts and images used by XRNL and to compile a list of key demonstrations and events. This provided the basis for the interview guide used in the second phase of data gathering (see Appendix A). During this second period eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals active within XRNL. Individuals were contacted through personal networks, general emails of XRNL and through social media platforms in instances when specific individuals were referenced in certain posts. Subsequently, snowball sampling was used to obtain further contacts (Morgan, 2008, pp. 815-816). Of the participants five were men and three women, and six had the Dutch nationality. Moreover, although not the intension from the outset, all participants were college-educated Millennials (those born after 1980). To the best of my knowledge there are no official statistics on the distribution of XRNL activists; however, while participants stressed that XRNL was quite diverse in terms of age, most also noted that college-educated millennials make up a significant portion of XR activists. Hence, the delimitation of pool of respondents to Millennials allowed for more in-depth, comparative insight into their specific lived experiences and perspectives and how this shaped the movement. 1

Subsequently, the interview method used combined elements from both semi-structured and narrative interview techniques (see Appendix A). This was done to gather further insights on the key concepts developed in the initial phase of the data gathering, while at the same time giving my interviewees the flexibility to select, emphasize, and give meaning to (order of) events without having a too rigid structure imposed on them (Cornell University, 2005; Given, 2008, pp. 545-546). This also created space for interviewees to narrate their own experiences of the movement and identify key aspects that they themselves found important. In the middle section of the interview, each interviewee was asked to zoom into a few specific events where the participant was personally involved in order to get detailed in-depth descriptions of specific creative acts. In addition, some participants provided visual images (such as photos, posters, and pennants) to complement their stories. These materials were also be incorporated in the analysis. The interviews were then transcribed and coded inductively from the data (Given,

1_{Milkman (2017) argued that young people contribute to a significant portion of individuals active in social} movements, and therefore often have a large influence on the claims and agendas of these movements. While I do not wish to discount the experiences and contributions of other generations, I do concur with her view that they are a valuable group to study.

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2008, pp. 86-88). The combined data from the visual analysis of social media and the interviews with respondents formed the basis of the analysis in the following chapters.

3.4 Limitations

Before continuing to the analysis sections, I would like to shortly note a number of limitations to this research. Firstly, as already mentioned, the pandemic made it impossible to join any physical protests and so this research is solely based on mediated accounts of protests (through photos, videos, posts and interviews). Hence, certain forms of tacit knowledge of respondents or insights that originate from the embodied participation in an event will be missing from this analysis. Additionally, virtual interviews unfold differently than interviews conducted face to face (see also Turney, 2008). Firstly, in my experience it was more difficult to develop rapport at the start of the interview as a large portion of the conventions surrounding introductions were removed (think of hand shake, offering a beverage, small talk) and the conversation would often move more quickly to a more structured interview setting. In line with this, the closure of interviews was also more abrupt. Within the interview it was also more difficult to convey verbal and physical cues and to receive feedback on how a participant reacted to a question. Although these dynamics were challenging at times, many participants mentioned that they were very used to using virtual tools for meetings (both for XRNL and their occupations). Hence, their level of comfort on these mediums facilitated the development of constructive conversations given the circumstances. Lastly, as this research was based on a qualitative approach and the pool of respondents was limited to millennials, the analysis in subsequent chapters by no means represent XRNL as a whole. Instead I believe it is an addition to the burgeoning literature that aims to understand the enactment of protest in this day and age.

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Chapter 4 With Love and Rage

1

Like many, in the first weeks of the ‘intelligent lockdown’ in March 2020 I struggled with grasping the magnitude of the rapidly shifting world around me and unravelling my own emotions in relation to these changes; for this I sought refuge in books. One of the first books I turned to was ‘The Plague’ by Albert Camus (1991a), which tells the tale of a small town in the 1940’s that almost gets obliterated by the bubonic plague.2_{This absurdist story sketches the}

futility of the characters’ battle against the plague, despite which with every action they take the characters keep on going. The absurdity of life that shines through this story is a common thread in much of Camus’ work and also comes to the fore in his philosophical essay ‘The Rebel’, which was published shortly after ‘The Plague’ in 1951 (Camus, 1991b; Rovers, 2017). In this essay, Camus argues that each act of rebellion starts with a ‘no’. Simultaneously, this ‘no’ is however also a ‘yes’, as it is an affirmation that there is a contrasting value that should never be transgressed, neither by the rebel nor the person or institution that is rebelled against (Foley, 2008, p. 56-58; Rovers, 2017). By inscribing the belief that there is some value to be protected, that this value is shared and that there is thus a solidarity of mankind, this ‘yes’ negates the futility of life (Ibid.). In Camus’ argument this is summarized in the phrase, “I rebel, therefore we exist” (Camus, 1991b, p. 22).

What astounded me while reading Camus’ work was that there are striking similarities between his texts and the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as with how my respondents delineated our current society as a whole and how this related back to addressing climate change. In the following chapter, Camus will therefore be used as a point of departure from which I will delve deeper into issues of solidarity, bodies, emotions and prefigurative politics. These discussions will allow me to situate XRNL in contemporary society, both in terms of what it contends and in terms of how it wishes to transform. The first section will discuss the ‘no’ propagated by individuals within XRNL, thereby exploring how individuals position themselves and the movement in their social and material world. The second section will then elaborate on what

1_{The phrase ‘(with) love and rage’ is commonly used as a closing in letters or articles of XRNL.}

2_{I was not alone in this, at the end of March Camus’ book was the third bestselling book in the Netherlands} (Stichting CPNB, 2020)

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individuals within XRNL say ‘yes’ to, which will lead to a discussion on how a sense of connectivity and community is forged through the actions of XRNL. The last section will bring these features together by looking at the actions of a specific protest group within XRNL, namely the Red Rebels. Within this, I will argue that the choices behind specific enactments of protest reflect how individuals within XRNL position themselves within the world and that the actions themselves can foster the circulation of specific emotions and thereby shape how the protests are experienced.

4.1 Extinction Rebellion’s ‘no’

Perhaps the easiest way of making a town’s acquaintance is to ascertain how the people in it work, how they love, and how they die. In our little town […] all three are done on much the same lines, with the same feverish yet causal air. The truth is that everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits. Our citizens work hard, but solely with the object of getting rich. Their chief interest is in commerce, and their chief aim in life is, as they call it, “doing business.” (Camus, 1991a, p. 4)

We live in the lion’s den of neoliberalism. The Netherlands has become completely individualized, completely commercialized. We have elevated commerce to a belief, and this has extended to our social world as well, to how people talk to each other, how they interact.1_(Sjoerd)

These two statements, articulated more than 70 years apart, are remarkably similar. One of the central features of XRNL is the understanding that we are currently living in a highly flawed or “toxic” system. This idea was reiterated in all my conversations with participants, in most of the contributions in XRNL’s recently published (e-)book While it’s still possible,2_{in the}

enormous variety of actions and in the core demands on the website of XRNL. Although as a movement XRNL does not explicitly state what this “toxic system” exactly is, in both the book and my conversations with respondents, two aspects were often emphasized: the colonial and the neoliberal mindsets.1_{First, among a number of participants there was an understanding that}

our current climate crisis was a continuation of a long-standing logic “where profit is more

1_{Adil proposed that a reason for not explicitly naming capitalism was in order to remain politically neutral and} not alienate people. Within this he stressed that the ‘science’ of XR was clear in that the capitalist system could not continue, but how exactly that should change related to strategy, and this was where XRNL used the phrase ‘system change’. This also relates to the third demand, to organize a people’s assembly, as the idea is to let the people decide how our society should look like.

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important than the health of man and nature, […] routed in colonial thinking” (Esajas, 2020). Martine elaborated, “We see climate change as a problem of the last couple of years, but for hundreds of years indigenous peoples have been chased off of their lands and human rights have been violated. This was the build-up to the system that we are in now and which is not feasible.”3_{Second, the relation between people, especially in the Netherlands, and commerce}

was also discussed multiple times, as can be seen in Sjoerd’s statement above. This neoliberal mindset, which was also extensively critiqued in the wave of protests that rose out of the 2008 financial crisis, was seen as a significant reason for the climate crisis that we are currently facing.

For many respondents, the realization of the effects of climate change, and the systemic failure of institutions to address these, brought forth a wide range of emotions including grief, anger, sorrow, shame and fear. While some had gone through this process alone, before joining XRNL, others stated that the ‘Heading towards extinction, and what to do about it’ lecture of XRNL (hereafter the Talk) had catalysed this emotional reaction.1_{Jasper affirmed that the Talk}

had brought on feelings of “injustice and anger, of grief and incomprehension” and that these thoughts and feelings had taken weeks to process. Similarly, Martine stated that she had “gotten tears in her eyes” and that despite having heard it seven times “each time she was still deeply touched.” These accounts indicate that the individual ‘no’ was not solely a cognitive endeavour but was also intrinsically related to emotions. Additionally, within the protests of XRNL this ‘no’ materialized in the protesting bodies of participants. Jasper explained that when people blocked a street with their bodies, they expressed that “we are not going away until you listen to us.” Moreover, this was a very powerful method “especially if many people, many bodies, did this simultaneously,” as the protesting body thereby communicated to spectators and the police that “You are physically removing me while I want you to listen, […] I am not going to move, […] I am angry, you have to listen to me now.”4_{What becomes apparent from these}

descriptions is that individuals within XRNL actively rejected how our current societal system functions, and that this rejection, this ‘no’, was embodied and was enabled by emotions. How XRNL’s negation also included an idea of how society should be organized, a ‘yes’, and how the bodily and emotional aspects hereof facilitated the experience a collective, moving from an individual ‘no’ to a collective ‘yes’, will be discussed in the following section.

1_{The talk is described by XRNL as a “lecture about the reality of the climate crisis and environmental destruction”,} given by people involved in Extinction Rebellion (XR Zaanstreek, 2020). It can generally be seen as an introduction to the movement and a method to attract new participants. Due to Covid-19 a number of these lectures were held through zoom.

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4.2 Moving towards a ‘yes’: the prefigurative politics of XRNL

“The regulations don’t go anywhere near far enough.”

“Yes,” the Prefect replied. “I’ve seen the statistics and, as you say, they’re most perturbing.”

“They’re more than perturbing, they’re conclusive.” “I’ll ask government for orders.”

When Rieux next met Castel, the Prefect’s remark was still rankling. “Orders!” he said scornfully. “When what’s needed is imagination.” (Camus, 1991, p. 62)

No creativity means following the status quo. […] But if you want to move towards a different system, you need to be creative. It is not a choice; it is a fundamental element to arrive at where we want to be.5_(Sjoerd)

As was discussed in the previous section, one of the central aspects that came out of my conversations with participants was their discomfort within the neoliberal system in the Netherlands. While this discomfort was often already present prior to joining the movement, many participants mentioned that XRNL had played a meaningful role in how they now positioned themselves in broader society. Roel summarized this aptly as “a very fundamental shift” that had occurred within himself and which he experienced as a “tremendous liberation”, namely that he no longer saw himself “mainly as a consumer in this society, or as an employee” but more as a political being.6_{Moreover, for a number of participants XRNL created the}

possibility to collectively move beyond this problematized societal structure. This alternative space both created a sense of community and encouraged individual transformations, such as the one Roel described, alluding to a continuous interplay between the individual and the collective. In the following section this interaction will be further explored by first looking at structural and organizational aspects of the collective space XRNL tried to create, before moving to the role the enactments of protest played. The latter will also form the basis of a discussion on the emotional transformations individuals experienced, both within themselves and within the collective.

Within my discussions with respondents, the narration of what type of collective, alternative space XRNL was trying to build often flowed out of discussions on the negation of certain societal structures. In other words, the problems individuals identified in broader society formed the basis of what (not) to do within their own movement. This was done in a variety of ways. First, multiple respondents mentioned the strong focus of XRNL to create and maintain

Climate System Change: A Study on Creative Expressions in Activist Practices of Extinction Rebellion Netherlands