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samdalefox 's review for:
This Is Not A Drill: An Extinction Rebellion Handbook
by Extinction Rebellion
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
The title is slightly misleading. This is not a handbook in how to actively plan and participate in Extinction Rebellion (XR) protest activities. If you'd like to get involved with direct non-violent action, get in touch with your local XR group! UK site: https://extinctionrebellion.uk/act-now/local-groups/. Global site: https://rebellion.global/. This is however a powerful, accessible introduction into who XR are, what they are protesting about (the climate crisis), what their goals are, and what sort of actions can we take as individuals and society to achieve this.
The book is split into two Parts. Part 1 covers the science and Part 2 covers practical tools on civil disobedience and explains how direct non-violent action has been an effective strategy historically. Each part is split into several short essays.
The pros:
The book is split into two Parts. Part 1 covers the science and Part 2 covers practical tools on civil disobedience and explains how direct non-violent action has been an effective strategy historically. Each part is split into several short essays.
The pros:
- There was a good range of essays and authors
- There were several unique topics I thought were introduced that were particuarly interesting and I have not previously seen before with respect to environmental literature: The essay about harm reduction, the essay about coping with despair, the essay about community, love, and making protest fun, the essay about cities, and the essay about the art workshop.
- I am so glad that it was spelled out in black and white that XR agrees that climate justice must necessarily also be social justice - see the gilets jaunes essay and cities essay for more.
The cons:
- Some points are repeated across different essays, the repitition was a bit offputting
- The science was lighter than expected, which may be a good thing to help accessibility, but I was shocked to see zero referencing. At least provide a citation list of the papers and public resources mentioned so people can easily find them themselves.
- Not an awful lot on actual civil disobedience strategy
This is for you if:
- You too feel despair and existential dread at how our sick Capitalist society is killing the planet and agree that the usual campaigning methods such as demonstrations and signing petitions are totally inappropriate in the face of total climate and societal breakdown.
- You think XR are annoying, targeting the wrong people by disrupting normal workers' lives, and that civil disobedience doesn't work. This book explains the reasoning behind their actions which may persuade you to support them. And if you still don't, that's fine, but I'd love to hear your alternative suggestion to pressuring the people in power to react proportionately to the climate emergency. Apathy is not a good excuse.