A group of demonstrators have staged a climate change protest at Heathrow Airport. Between 15 and 20 people, many of them aged under 17, unfurled a banner on the pavement outside the transport hub reading “are we the last generation” on Friday morning.

The protest is part of wider demonstrations around London organised by the campaign group Extinction Rebellion (XR), which has blocked routes around Marble Arch, Oxford Circus, Parliament Square and Waterloo Bridge since Monday.

Protesters stood by the tunnel that leads to Terminals 2 and 3 at the airport, but all roads around the roundabout remained open.

Robust

Extinction Rebellion said police had warned the youngsters at Heathrow that they could be arrested.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid has urged police to use the “full force of the law” to deal with illegal XR demonstrations as they enter a fifth day.

More than 500 protesters had been arrested by Thursday night as activists continued to ignore orders to leave roadblocks at Waterloo Bridge, Oxford Circus and Parliament Square.

Organisers said action would be escalated to include Britain’s busiest airport on Good Friday, with around 500,000 people expected to fly out for Easter breaks over the bank holiday weekend.

The airport said it was “working with the authorities”, while Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave said: “Protesters can expect a robust police response. We are determined to keep the airport operating.”

Passive people

Scotland Yard has warned protesters the force had “strong plans” in place with a significant number of officers ready to respond.

Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, told BBC Breakfast on Friday that protests had been “very, very difficult” for the force because it was an “alien” situation for most of them.

But he said that with more than 1,000 officers being deployed the streets will begin to be cleared.

He added: “This is very, very difficult for us because my colleagues have never come across the situation that they are faced with at the moment.

“They are dealing with very, very passive people, probably quite nice people, who don’t want confrontation whatsoever with the police or anyone else but are breaking the law.

Boundaries

“We are having to adjust to that, we are having to deal with the circumstances that are put in front of my colleagues, but be very robust so we can start clearing the streets and you will see that starting to happen today.”

He added: “This is very, very frustrating for us, this is going to cost millions…”But the knock-on effect will be that at some stage colleagues need to have their time off, their breaks, and it needs to be paid for.”

Some officers have been working 12-hour shifts, while rest days and leave have been cancelled.

The Met said the protests are putting a strain on policing in the capital with officers diverted away from “core local duties”.

After a briefing from Met Commissioner Cressida Dick, the Home Secretary said: “I totally condemn any protesters who are stepping outside the boundaries of the law.

Force

“I expect the police to take a firm stance and use the full force of the law. They have my full backing in doing so.”

Mass arrests for obstructing the highway and breaching the Section 14 order that prohibits protests apart from at Marble Arch do not appear to have deterred protesters and 10 people have been charged with those offences.

A further three people who were charged by British Transport Police appeared in court on Thursday morning.

Join

Cathy Eastburn, 51, Mark Ovland, 35, and Luke Watson, 29, were remanded in custody over their alleged involvement in obstructing trains at Canary Wharf station on Wednesday morning.

Organisers said they expected more people to join the protests and warned they would continue until their demands are met.

The group wants the government to declare a climate emergency and take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.

Actress Dame Emma Thompson joined the protests in London. In a video shared by the campaign group on Thursday, the Hollywood star urged viewers to “come and join” the demonstrations.

This Article

This article is based on copy supplied by Press Association reporters.

Extinction Rebellion (XR) is now on its fifth consecutive day of occupations of central London sites having started at Oxford Circus, Waterloo Bridge, Marble Arch and Parliament Square.

The left has generally been quite critical of XR, particularly of what is seen as their naive and liberal approach to the police, but this tone seems to have shifted in the past days. The critiques are still there – and valid – but there’s now a more reflective attitude.

Clearly, despite all the problems we might have with the organisation, there are a huge number of people out on the streets, many of them newly politicised, and taking what is quite impressively disruptive action. Without forgetting our critiques of its political content, is there anything we can learn from how XR has been organising?

Organisation

In my book, The Shock Doctrine of the Left I have tried to show – in broad theoretical terms – how an organising approach similar to XR’s can be relevant to base-building unionism, the cooperative movement, social democratic pressure groups, anarchist and antifascist action.

Given this was written a few years prior, and XR is the first example I know of where a UK-based organisation has followed this model successfully, I thought it was worth setting out in short again, in the light of XR’s ‘proof of concept’ if you will.

I’ll touch on what typical leftist organisations currently don’t do, show what XR do do (or try to do), and then to give some more specific suggestions for how this could be applied to a broader revolutionary organisation in the current context.

Imagine if you will an international base-building socialist organisation, focused around grassroots community and workplace unionism, capable of carrying out coordinated global strikes, that could grow into hundreds of regularly active groups in numerous countries, in the space of a year.

I’m going to call this hypothetical organisation Socialist Rebellion – for comparative purposes only.

Explicit

I’m framing this as what a new socialist organisation can do, but there is nothing to say that existing organisations can’t adapt and take on aspects of the following; clearer processes for starting new groups, more regular training, a more proactive strategy and so on can only help.

But in my experience there is a certain inertia to an established organisation, what you might call ‘path dependence’ or ‘lock-in’, that makes this is easier said than done. Reforming a years old organisation can be like trying to turn a shipping tanker around. 

The model goes by numerous names – distributed organising, hybrid momentum-structure organising, swarm organising and others.

It comes in different variations, but on the whole is an attempt to avoid the pitfalls of both rigidly hierarchical organisations and purely spontaneous grassroots mobilisation.

This involves firstly having a lot of explicit structure, which is front-facing and accessibly written. This is passed on through mass training. And direct action is taken, with the explicit aim of polarising the public. These might be thought of as the DNA of an organisation, its replication, and a catalyst for kicking off that process.

Creativity

The aim is to enter into a growing feedback loop, whereby the direct action attracts attention, creates an inflow of new people into training sessions, who enable the organisation of more and larger autonomous groups, which can then do larger actions etc.

Ultimately enough people join the moment to allow for actions which can shut down urban centres for extended periods of time, just as you would have in, say, a general strike. 

The DNA metaphor isn’t just for show, but points to the particular mode of action and growth.

It’s like a new human body, which shares enough DNA with others to maintain coherence as a species, but from the moment of birth is effectively autonomous, acting of its own volition but cooperating.

If done well, this allows for creativity and experimentation in the grassroots (including room to fail), whilst maintaining a consistent, unified movement. 

Feedback

Some people have argued to me that the autonomous / anarchist left already does all this. In terms of all the parts separately, that’s sometimes true: structure, training and action are nothing new. But it’s in the way these are articulated that the left usually falls down.

Public direct action occurs, but reactively or without being part of any explicit long term strategy. DNA is written out, but its incomplete, its scattered, its written in inaccessible language, and new recruits have to jump through hoops both formal and informal to feel empowered to use them.

And most importantly, the mechanism of replication is weak: training events happen, but only once in a blue moon, on a random day, on some general topic, rather than specifically to feed all the elements of the DNA to a new group of people, and to allow them to immediately use it without supervision.

If you’re too slow, its too late: the training has to absorb the energy and interest created by the direct actions, but on the left you frequently see trainings have not been pre-arranged before an action, are not adequately advertised, and are not comprehensive.

Without that intensity, the feedback loop that creates exponential growth fails to kick in. Entropy takes hold, the effects of the action fade away, and the moment is lost.

Catalysts

Following XR’s earlier actions in October 2018, I counted numerous training events per day, for weeks afterwards, in London alone, not to mention other cities. It is this focus on replication that has allowed them to grow rapidly but in a controlled manner.

And that growth has been nothing short of spectacular. In the space of less than a year, XR has grown from nothing, to 300 groups in over 30 countries.

The week of action was coordinated internationally, and although the London actions were significantly bigger than elsewhere, there were nonetheless events occurring across at least 20 different countries, including Italy, Spain, Sweden, USA, Australia, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Netherlands, Portugal, Turkey, Scotland, Belgium, South Africa, Norway, Ireland. 

There will be aspects that can’t apply to all organisations, but using this broad model – with tweaks to fit your own context, resources and goals – we can begin to examine where we might bring in improvements to our organising. Even if we completely reject everything else about XR, there is something here we can learn. 

I’m going to follow this up with further posts looking in more detail at DNA, replication, and catalysts, setting out some tools for creating or improving them. Check back for more soon.

This Author

Graham Jones is the author of The Shock Doctrine of the Left. You can support his work on Patreon, where this article first appeared.

From wildfires in the USA, coral die-back in the tropics and the deadly hurricanes battering small islands, the signs are crystal clear. Human impacts on the environment have reached a critical stage, potentially eroding the conditions of life on Earth. 

The latest issue of Resurgence & Ecologist is out next week!

The human consequences of these changes are plain to see and reported daily: economic instability, large-scale involuntary migration, conflict, famine, and the collapse of economic and social systems. But mainstream political and media coverage does not link these stories to the climate and ecological emergency that is already upon us. 

Can we really dismantle the toxic systems that have given rise to these gargantuan problems in the short window of 12 years (now 11) that the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said we had to pull the emergency brake? 

Extinction Rebellion

No-one knows what will happen and no-one can say for sure whether or not fundamental ecological tipping points have already been breached. The good news is there are millions of people mobilising to stop humanity falling off a cliff. 

These campaigners have some sharp new ideas about how to create kinder, regenerative societies that can start the process of restoring nature and create communities characterised by resistance and resilience. They want to do more than just avoid extinction or merely survive. They are building a movement built on solidarity and well-being so everyone, and every part of everyone, can flourish.

Ending domination over nature goes hand  in hand with tackling all forms of domination and hierarchy (men over women, old over young, one ethnicity or religion over another and binary forms of sexuality). 

One of the fastest growing new movements that’s growing this kinder, actively inclusive DNA is Extinction Rebellion (XR). Launched in October 2018 in the UK, it has engaged over a million people in 65 countries. As of March 2019 had 206 groups established in 24 countries.

Extinction Rebellion’s main aim is to spark an international movement that will challenge governments around the world  through the tools of mass civil disobedience. 

International solidarity 

The rebels have three key demands: that the UK government tell the truth about the climate devastation by declaring an emergency and repeal of inconsistent laws; the enactment of new policies in line with climate science to get to net zero emissions by 2025; and the establishment of a citizen’s assembly to create a democracy fit for purpose which is capable of protecting people and nature.

Extinction Rebellion have injected a new sense of energy and urgency into the climate movement, and thousands joined in non-violent actions by blocking London bridges and disrupting traffic at busy intersection.

Whilst the media headlines have focused on their UK work, Extinction Rebellion UK have started an International Solidarity Network to utilise its global reach and to support existing resistance in the majority world, working closely with activists in West Papua, Bangladesh, Mongolia and the Caribbean. Support has included provision of media training, funding for secure communications and joint actions in the UK requested by Majority World activists.

For example, last week, Ghanaian Extinction Rebellion activists held an event calling for action on the Climate and Ecological Emergency in Afrika, in solidarity with those in the global south and the entire world.

Mawuse Yao Agorkor is an activist with SMERJAPIC-WA (Stop the Maangamizi). ‘Maangamizi’, from the Kiswahili Afrikan language, refers to the continuum of crimes of genocide and ecocide. Agorkor said: “The impact of the climate catastrophe is part of our daily life. This is why this event is important.”

The activists in Ghana highlighted excessive plastic pollution in their seas, deforestation and the devastation caused by either flooding or drought plus wastewater with toxic chemicals polluting their drinking water as key areas of actions. 

Emergency coalition 

The Phulbari Solidarity Group is a group of Bangladeshis campaigning against coal mining in their country, which is one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world.

Rumana Hashem, the founder of the Phulbari Solidarity Group, welcomes Extinction Rebellion’s work and said that on-going civil disobedience to decarbonise lifestyles and to protect our planet from criminal extractive companies and governments was long- overdue.

In December 2018, Extinction Rebellion supported a solidarity action led by Bangladeshi protesters and transnational campaigners against the development of coal mines in the Phulbari region of Bangladesh by blocking the entrance to the venue of the Annual General Meeting of the London-based company GCM Resources. Activists disrupted the AGM by occupying the front entrance for four hours, bringing their struggle to the attention of the major shareholders and GCM’s Board members.

Extinction Rebellion is also linking and learning from other movements and was active in Katowice, Poland in December 2018 during COP 24. Extinction Rebellion supported the Alliance of Small Islands States (AOSIS) and the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) – together representing over 80 countries with one billion people – pull together an international “emergency coalition” to reject the weak language that would have condemned them to extinction.

The speech of Former President Mohammed Nasheed, Head of the Delegation of the Maldives, and Chair of AOSIS, struck a defiant tone by stating: “We are not prepared to die… We are not going to become the first victims of the climate crisis. Instead we are going to do everything in our power to keep our head above water.

“We harbour no illusions about the dangers. And we are acutely aware of our own vulnerability. Climate change is a national security issue for us. It is an existential threat…we plan to survive in a warming world, any way we can.”

Toxic systems 

At this pivotal moment in history, it is important for all minority world movements to use their platforms and resources to show solidarity with those on the frontlines. Activists in the Majority World are paying a heavy price for defending nature with reports of 4-7 nature defenders being murdered each week. 

It is vital to shine a light on the lived experience of climate and ecological breakdown, challenge neo-colonialism in all its forms and take action here in the minority world to confront the devastation caused by unaccountable extractive industries. 

Support is also being provided, when requested, to the youth-led school strikes movement, started by Greta Thunberg, and to the newly emerging Birthstrike movement which is taking off in many countries to support people who are choosing to not bring children into this world unless and until conditions improve. In the US, the Sunrise Movement is building bi-partisan support for a 10-year mobilisation /investment plan called the Green New Deal. 

What all these movements have in common is a complete rejection of the neo-liberal economics and business as usual politics. Yes, it is too late to prevent all the negative impacts of climate change. But nature can’t destroy our capacity to nurture. It cannot destroy our capacity to love and our sense of justice. 

We can and must redesign human societies based on love, justice and planetary boundaries  so no person or society is left to face devasting consequences and we learn to restore nature together. Faced with toxic systems that are destroying all life on Earth, affirmation of this vision and rebelling against whatever gets in its way becomes a sacred duty for all. 

The rebellion has to be global to take on corrupt and powerful elites everywhere. That is why I will be joining the International Rebellion starting on 15 April which will see a series of actions to bring London to a halt, and hopefully aligned actions all over the world. We can and must succeed in catalysing a peaceful revolution to end the era of fossil fuels, nature extraction and capitalism. Life on Earth literally depends on it. I hope you will join the rebels where ever you are. 

This Author 

Farhana Yamin is a climate change lawyer, an activist with Extinction Rebellion and associate fellow at Chatham House. An edited version of this article will appear soon in Resurgence & Ecologist magazine. 

Image: Activists in Ghana. Gilogcal, Facebook. 

A father who joined three generations of his family at a climate change protest has emphasised it is a “multi-generational issue”, adding that disruption in London “can wake us up” to it.

Jeremy Williams, 38, joined Extinction Rebellion demonstrators with his parents, his wife and their young children.

“We’ve basically had this generation from the ’50s and ’60s who, with new access to flying, driving and other services, had the best of everything and emissions shot up,” he told the Press Association.

Disruption

“Then you come to the present with my generation, where we are aware of this issue and what my generation does to tackle it, in turn, affects my children’s lives and the world they inherit.”

The protests have caused significant disruption to public transport in London and demonstrators have vowed it will continue for weeks.

In a message to those affected by the travel disturbances, Mr Williams said: “If you live in Mozambique or California during the wildfire season you are already being disrupted by climate change.

“It is a luxury not to be disrupted by climate change and we need to wake up to that.

“If this disruption to our commutes, our streets and our cities can wake us up to it, then it’s worth that disruption to become aware of it.”

Inclusive

Mr Williams described the atmosphere at the protest like “a street party”, adding there was “a real sense of playfulness and creativity”, as his seven-year-old son Zachary and five-year-old daughter Eden drew in chalk on the road surface of Waterloo Bridge.

“The kids were waving flags and joining the silent disco and what have you and there were lots of families and older people there too,” he said, adding that some attendees assembled a skate ramp, which “fascinated” his kids, while others had picnics.

Mr Williams, who co-authored a book on sustainability earlier this year entitled The Economics Of Arrival, said he deliberately attended the first day of the protest to ensure it was “child-friendly”.

“We didn’t witness any arrests, but if you were there yesterday or today the police are getting a bit fed up,” he said.

Asked if there was a message he would like to share with those not at the protest, Mr Williams said: “Do not be afraid to get involved – Extinction Rebellion is a broad and inclusive movement.

“The press tends to go to the people getting arrested, but you can get involved without being arrested, you can just be part of it.”

This Author

Edd Dracott is a reporter with Press Association. 

A father who joined three generations of his family at a climate change protest has emphasised it is a “multi-generational issue”, adding that disruption in London “can wake us up” to it.

Jeremy Williams, 38, joined Extinction Rebellion demonstrators with his parents, his wife and their young children.

“We’ve basically had this generation from the ’50s and ’60s who, with new access to flying, driving and other services, had the best of everything and emissions shot up,” he told the Press Association.

Disruption

“Then you come to the present with my generation, where we are aware of this issue and what my generation does to tackle it, in turn, affects my children’s lives and the world they inherit.”

The protests have caused significant disruption to public transport in London and demonstrators have vowed it will continue for weeks.

In a message to those affected by the travel disturbances, Mr Williams said: “If you live in Mozambique or California during the wildfire season you are already being disrupted by climate change.

“It is a luxury not to be disrupted by climate change and we need to wake up to that.

“If this disruption to our commutes, our streets and our cities can wake us up to it, then it’s worth that disruption to become aware of it.”

Inclusive

Mr Williams described the atmosphere at the protest like “a street party”, adding there was “a real sense of playfulness and creativity”, as his seven-year-old son Zachary and five-year-old daughter Eden drew in chalk on the road surface of Waterloo Bridge.

“The kids were waving flags and joining the silent disco and what have you and there were lots of families and older people there too,” he said, adding that some attendees assembled a skate ramp, which “fascinated” his kids, while others had picnics.

Mr Williams, who co-authored a book on sustainability earlier this year entitled The Economics Of Arrival, said he deliberately attended the first day of the protest to ensure it was “child-friendly”.

“We didn’t witness any arrests, but if you were there yesterday or today the police are getting a bit fed up,” he said.

Asked if there was a message he would like to share with those not at the protest, Mr Williams said: “Do not be afraid to get involved – Extinction Rebellion is a broad and inclusive movement.

“The press tends to go to the people getting arrested, but you can get involved without being arrested, you can just be part of it.”

This Author

Edd Dracott is a reporter with Press Association. 

A father who joined three generations of his family at a climate change protest has emphasised it is a “multi-generational issue”, adding that disruption in London “can wake us up” to it.

Jeremy Williams, 38, joined Extinction Rebellion demonstrators with his parents, his wife and their young children.

“We’ve basically had this generation from the ’50s and ’60s who, with new access to flying, driving and other services, had the best of everything and emissions shot up,” he told the Press Association.

Disruption

“Then you come to the present with my generation, where we are aware of this issue and what my generation does to tackle it, in turn, affects my children’s lives and the world they inherit.”

The protests have caused significant disruption to public transport in London and demonstrators have vowed it will continue for weeks.

In a message to those affected by the travel disturbances, Mr Williams said: “If you live in Mozambique or California during the wildfire season you are already being disrupted by climate change.

“It is a luxury not to be disrupted by climate change and we need to wake up to that.

“If this disruption to our commutes, our streets and our cities can wake us up to it, then it’s worth that disruption to become aware of it.”

Inclusive

Mr Williams described the atmosphere at the protest like “a street party”, adding there was “a real sense of playfulness and creativity”, as his seven-year-old son Zachary and five-year-old daughter Eden drew in chalk on the road surface of Waterloo Bridge.

“The kids were waving flags and joining the silent disco and what have you and there were lots of families and older people there too,” he said, adding that some attendees assembled a skate ramp, which “fascinated” his kids, while others had picnics.

Mr Williams, who co-authored a book on sustainability earlier this year entitled The Economics Of Arrival, said he deliberately attended the first day of the protest to ensure it was “child-friendly”.

“We didn’t witness any arrests, but if you were there yesterday or today the police are getting a bit fed up,” he said.

Asked if there was a message he would like to share with those not at the protest, Mr Williams said: “Do not be afraid to get involved – Extinction Rebellion is a broad and inclusive movement.

“The press tends to go to the people getting arrested, but you can get involved without being arrested, you can just be part of it.”

This Author

Edd Dracott is a reporter with Press Association. 

Londoners face a fourth day of disruption as environmental protesters vow to maintain roadblocks across the capital despite nearly 400 arrests.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said “we’ve got the message” after some Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists glued themselves to a train and others chained themselves to Jeremy Corbyn’s garden fence.

Scotland Yard said more than 100 people were arrested on Wednesday, bringing the total to almost 400 as ongoing protests continue in Parliament Square, Waterloo Bridge, Oxford Circus and Marble Arch.

Impact

On Wednesday night, campaigners were playing a cat-and-mouse game with police, who promised to continue the operation overnight.

Three people have been charged over an Extinction Rebellion protest where activists climbed on the top of a train at Canary Wharf station in east London, British Transport Police said.

Activists said they plan to continue roadblocks, which have affected more than half a million people with traffic gridlock and disruption to transport and businesses since Monday, until at least next Friday.

Robin Boardman-Pattison, 21, who walked off during an interview with Sky News, said activists were planning to step up action on the rail and London Underground network.

“We will be escalating our disruption throughout the week,” he said. “The impact to the Tube system will grow.”

Democratic

Asked about the protests on the BBC’s The One Show, Mr Gove said: “I think it’s appropriate for people to make their feelings known but I also think, we’ve got the message, we understand that action needs to be taken.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said on Twitter: “We’re facing a climate emergency. I fully support the right of protesters to protest on this vital issue, and urge organisers to work with police to ensure their demonstrations are peaceful and lawful and that disruption is kept to a minimum.”

XR, which is demanding a meeting with the government, has said direct action is needed to force authorities to act urgently on climate change and wildlife declines and halt a “sixth mass extinction”.

TV presenter and naturalist Chris Packham joined protesters at Oxford Circus on Wednesday, saying: “I believe the world’s leaders are not acting urgently enough to avert a climate catastrophe. As long as it is peaceful and democratic then they can count on my support.”

Some Londoners were critical of the group’s methods, which are causing disruption to their lives. A YouGov poll suggested public opinion has swung against the protests.

The survey of 3,561 British adults showed 52% either “somewhat oppose” or “strongly oppose” the action, compared with 36% who “strongly support” or “somewhat support” it.

This Article

This article is based on copy supplied by the Press Association. 

Farmers have put contingency plans in place amid concerns of a water shortage during the summer months.

It is understood that good growing conditions over the winter and early spring has increased crop yields, potentially meaning a need for more irrigation – controlled amounts of watering – at a time when rainfall is expected to reduce.

This would cause concern “across the board”, with high-value fruit and vegetable production, arable farming and livestock farming all being “vulnerable to rainfall and temperature patterns”, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said.

Restrictions

The NFU also said that farmers have already put contingency plans in place in case of a dry summer, including trading water with one another.

In its monthly hydrological summary for March, the National River Flow Archive, which collects UK river flow data, said that groundwater levels were below normal in central and eastern England, most notably in East Anglia.

The report also states the lower levels highlight the need for additional rainfall to prevent pressure on water later in 2019.

As a result of low rainfall in Yorkshire in April, the Environment Agency has put in place a complete stop to abstraction on the River Seven, the River Swale and in Cod Beck.

Paul Hammett, the national water resource specialist at the NFU, told the Press Association that it is unusual for such restrictions to be put in place so early in the year, and that the move is “of concern”.

Discussing the challenge that the need for greater irrigation coupled with low rainfall can pose, he said: “It’s going to be quite challenging for farmers to manage their available water to make sure they can make it last as long as possible to manage crop needs.”

Food production

On the prospect of another long, dry summer like last year, he added: “The British weather is very variable but I think farmers are right to be concerned and trying to put contingency plans in place just in case the worst happens.

“We’ve found that a high proportion of the farmers that we’ve spoken to, in terms of irrigated cropping, are increasing their storage, looking carefully at their cropping plans and are looking to trade water with other farmers.

“So we’re looking at a number of options to try to limit the risk of water shortage. I think that all farmers will be keeping a close eye on mid-term weather forecasts and reports about water availability.”

Mr Hammett said that a recent discussion he has had with the Environment Agency has helped reduce fears about water restrictions being put in place in East Anglia, but added that a general reduction of rainfall this year and in 2018 is of longer-term concern.

He added: “We do seem to be in a long period of consistently below average rainfall, and I guess that we’re already thinking about 2020 and what the prospects for water for food production might be like next year.

“The amount of water that we are collecting and is available in the soils is also of potential longer-term concern.”

This Author

Henry Clare is a reporter for Press Association.

Prakash Naranbhai Vankar looks up, taking a break from his intense concentration on the handloom he is weaving a carpet on.

I have just asked him why he has not gone into IT or some other ‘modern’ job that so many of his age have done. His response is the same mix of simplicity and complexity of the design he is weaving on his carpet: “My loom is my computer.” 

I am with my colleagues from the civil society organisations Kalpavriksh and Khamir, and we are studying the transformations that handloom weavers and weaving have undergone here.

Constant thought

We are sitting in Prakash’s house, in Bhujodi village of the west Indian district of Kachchh, a vast region of grasslands and salt deserts and agro-pastoral ways of life that constitute one of India’s most unique biocultural landscapes.  

In one of the many conversations that we were carrying out across the vankar (weaver) community, we are asking Prakash why he was continuing the family tradition of vanaat (weaving), instead of going into some industrial job or migrating to some middle-eastern country in search of more lucrative pastures. 

Pressed to explain, he says that weaving carpets on a handloom is far from a mechanical job. There is constant thought, innovation, passion, satisfaction, and dedication going into it, as well as freedom, identity, and being with family.

Why would he want to be an anonymous labourer in someone else’s factory, or sit in an office subject to some boss’s command? 

Our study is looking at the revival of a traditional craft in Kachchh, a phenomenon rarely seen elsewhere in India where, for decades, macro-economic policies have favoured mass machine production over handmade.

Mechanised labour 

India’s famed textiles were once the largest and most diverse in the world, being exported to all parts of the world for at least the last 2000 years.

Th textile trade took a big hit during colonial times, when the British administration heavily taxed local production, imposed severe duties on imports of Indian textiles into Britain, squeezed out local yarns, and flooded Indian markets with products from its own mills.  

After Independence, the industrialization and mechanization of the textile sector continued apace, despite Gandhi’s very sane advice to sustain and generate millions of livelihoods by maximizing hand production. 

Powerlooms have replaced handlooms, yarn has become more expensive, wages for handloom workers have remained low. In most parts of the country, weavers are abandoning the craft, and the younger generation in particular no longer has the incentive to stay on. 

But in Kachchh, handloom weaving has been on the rise in the last decade. So we have been looking at why this is the case, and what are its economic, social, cultural, and economic ramifications. Ours is part of a global study, the Activist-Academic Cogeneration of Knowledge for Environmental Justice (ACKnowl-EJ), sponsored by the International Science Council.

To understand the various dimensions of transformation, we are using a participatory analytical tool, the Alternatives Transformation Format. The tool has been developed by Kalpavriksh on the basis of learnings from Vikalp Sangam, a nation-wide process platform for alternative initiatives in various fields. 

Revived traditions 

Prakash is one of several youth who have either stayed back in vanaat. There are others who have, even more interestingly, come back to it after trying their hand at industrial, construction, and other jobs.

In Siracha village, over a dozen have quit (or were laid off from) working in the nearby Tata and Adani factories, and are back into weaving; another dozen or more are wanting to do the same. This is a village that had over 50 looms operational before a massive earthquake flattened Kachchh in 2001, destroying many traditional livelihoods.

Industries that came in quickly after that capitalized on the desperate need for work, snapping up the cheap labour of hundreds of people. From a total collapse of weaving around that time, Siracha is back to having about 20 looms, and looking forward to many more. 

A host of factors has aided in this counter-trend. Perhaps the most important is the intervention of Khamir, an institution set up in the early 2000s to facilitate the sustenance of Kachchh’s unique crafts.

Khamir innovated on design and production, and revived the full ‘value chain’ linked to Kala cotton, an organically grown indigenous variety ideally suited to Kachchh’s aridity. It perfected the production of exquisite cloth and a range of products from Kala (carpets, shawls, saris, stoles, shirts, kurtas, bags), and helped find a niche market.

New handloom and design schools have also created opportunities for formal learning for young weavers, building on what they learn from their parents at home.

Hybrid culture

This ‘hybrid’ culture pervades the revival of vanaat. Young people are flowering into their own, expressing their creativity in ways their elders would not have imagined.

But they stay solidly faithful to the unique ‘Kachchhi chhaap’ motifs, still learn the basics of weaving at home, and continue to respect the wisdom and expertise of their parents. There are also technological hybrids; the fundamentals of the loom have remained the same, but marketing has found a new avenue in online platforms.

In Kotay village, young Shamjibhai told us: “I directly market my produce digitally; I can work from the comfort of my home while making a good living”.

Shamjibhai’s articulation displays one of the most interesting aspects of the revival. The renewed attraction of weaving for the youth most certainly has economic motivations, but this is explicitly mixed with socio-cultural ones.

In village after village we are told that being able to work at home, being with family (notably, traditionally as also now, weaving processes involve the entire family), continuing the craft heritage, having dignity in work, being one’s own time master, and being able to innovate using one’s own creativity, are also equal motivations.

Empowering women 

Does this all comprise a quiet re-affirmation of Gandhi’s emphasis on the dignity of manual labour; and an escape from the all-too-common alienation from one’s own labour in capitalist production that Marx brilliantly exposed?

Of special significance is the taking up of vanaat by young women in many villages. While women have always been essential to the pre-loom processes (a part of vanaat being a family occupation, mentioned above), sitting on the loom has traditionally been almost exclusive domain of men. This is changing.

For both economic reasons as also simply because women are finding their voice and confidence, emerging from being subservient to men all these centuries, young girls to older women are now weaving, expressing their own creativity in the design and products, and even beginning to deal with the outside world in marketing and outreach.

Young Champa Siju Vankar of Awadhnagar weaves some of her own designs and recently exhibited her work in United Kingdom as part of an exchange programme.

In Jamthada village, in which over 20 girls have taken to weaving, several of them come for a meeting we’ve organised. Sheetal Hiteshbhai Sanjot said she earned Rs. 200 for 8 hours of backbreaking construction work till two years back, then took to weaving and now earns 300-350 for the same number of hours, but in a more relaxed atmosphere.

Economic divide

She and Roshni Pachanbhai would like to make their own designs one day. Rajjiben Harijan of Awadhnagar has helped pioneer weaving with waste plastic introduced by Khamir, and become a trainer for Khamir, an example for many other women to emulate. Unfortunately though, since there is no similar move amongst men to share in the housework, many women weavers are now doing two jobs. 

There are also downsides to this revival. The upturn in economic livelihoods has not touched all the vankars evenly. Those with greater access to capital (for buying raw material, stocking produce, etc), or to urban markets such as Kachchh’s capital Bhuj or Mumbai and Delhi and even European consumers, have prospered more.

There is a visible economic divide between entrepreneur weavers and weavers who service their orders, not having the capital or opportunity to become entrepreneurs.

Elders like Shamjibhai Vishram Siju of Bhujodi told us that such inequality was uncommon a few decades back when the trade was mostly local. As in many other occupations, a dependence on global trade has been capitalized on by some, not all.  

Additionally, the ecological footprint has increased. Once made exclusively for other local communities in local barter or monetary transactions, quite a bit of the production is now for national and global markets. Even much of the yarn comes from outside, other than Kala cotton. The fossil fuel footprint has most decidedly increased.

Ecological footprint

On the positive side, our study did find that compared to production using the genetically modified Bt cotton (that has taken over most of India’s cotton producing lands), Kala cotton has only half the ecological impact. 

Slowly, these issues are becoming part of discussions amongst the vankars. Our study has partly contributed by making their articulation sharper.

Several elders agree on the need for action especially on the inequality front, e.g. by assisting economically weaker or geographically dispriviliged vankars with greater market access. So also regarding revival of some local exchange, including the use of wool from Kachchh’s pastoral populations; Khamir is working on reviving this value chain.

The larger issues of elitist markets and ecological footprint will not be possible for the vankars to deal with themselves, they need civil society and government policy support.

If this support is forthcoming, the remarkable turnaround of Kachchhi handloom could become even more of a shining example of how India could tackle its severe livelihood, ecological, and cultural crises. 

This Author 

Ashish Kothari is a founder and member of Indian environmental group Kalpavriksh, Ashish has taught at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, coordinated India’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan process, served on Greenpeace International and India Boards, helped initiate the global ICCA Consortium, and chaired an IUCN network dealing with protected areas and communities.

Ashish has (co)authored or (co)edited over 30 books, and helps coordinate the Vikalp Sangam and Radical Ecological Democracy processes in search of alternative well-being pathways to globalized development. His latest books are Churning the Earth: Making of Global India (with Aseem Shrivastava) and Alternative Futures: India Unshackled (ed., with KJ Joy). 

The League Against Cruel Sports has gathered 284 reports of illegal hunting activity and 43 reports of fox kills by hunts, from November when the season opened, to now, at its close.

Hunting an animal welfare remain key political issues in Westminster, with the focus now on the need to strengthen the Hunting Act.

Chris Luffingham, director of campaigns at the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “These figures sadly show the scale of the killing still taking place in the British countryside by fox hunts.

Turning the tide

“We know these reports are just the tip of the iceberg, with fox hunts killing indiscriminately across the UK and lying about their bloodthirsty activities to cover up their crimes.

“However, I believe the tide is turning, and political parties are now recognising the need to take animal welfare much more seriously and put in place stronger legislation to protect British wildlife.”

Separately, 129 cases of fox cub hunting were received by the League between the beginning of August and the end of October, which is when they are typically targeted. This is a practice where the hunts’ hounds are trained to kill in the run-up to the fox hunting season – by being let loose in woodland to target fox cubs and literally tear them to pieces.

The figures were compiled from the League’s Animal Crimewatch service, which consists of reports from members of the public and from the League’s professional investigators, as well as from evidence gathered from photos and videos shared on social media.

Strengthening laws

Concerns over the fact that fox hunting is still taking place are getting a lot more exposure in Parliment.

A parliamentary debate on wildlife crime in mid-March led to calls by cross-party MPs for the Hunting Act to be strengthened.

It followed a recent review of the policing of illegal fox hunting arranged by Cheshire’s Police and Crime commissioner David Keane, late last year, which highlighted the challenges posed by the current legislation, and proposed strengthening it.

Elsewhere, the Scottish Government announced plans in 2018 to strengthen hunting laws in Scotland, reducing the number of hounds in a pack to two, and introducing measures that would prevent hunts using the ‘trail’ hunting deception used in England and Wales.

Animal welfare

The National Trust has also come under pressure recently to stop issuing licences allowing the hunts to access its land.

The number of hunts issued licenses in the 2018/19 hunting season was down to 24 compared with 67 in 2016/17, due to pressure from the League. This fell to 20 after four hunts had their licences withdrawn this season following allegations of illegal hunting.

Chris Luffingham said: “The issue of animal welfare has never been such an important issue for the public and political parties and it is becoming vital to electoral success.

“We are calling for the hunting ban to be strengthened with the introduction of prison sentences for those caught illegally hunting.

“We need a proper deterrent to stop the barbaric activities of the hunts and we also need to close down the loop holes that allow hunts to get around the law.”

This Author 

Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This article is based on a press release from the League Against Cruel Sports. Any suspected illegal hunting activity can be reported to the League’s Animal Crimewatch service. Alternatively, phone in confidence on 01483 361 108 or email LACS Crimewatch.