Extinction Rebellion arrests and the effectiveness of active nonviolence

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/16/extinction-rebellion-arrests-and-the-effectiveness-of-active-nonviolence

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As George Monbiot highlights (Today, I aim to get arrested. It’s the only way to save the planet, 16 October), nonviolent civil disobedience has been a vital part of achieving political and social change. Examples in the UK range from votes for women to the rights of Welsh speakers. Progress comes from below, not from above.

While some may be more critical of Extinction Rebellion than others, the police’s outrageous attempt to ban its protests in London is a reminder that active nonviolence disturbs the powerful and those who maintain the status quo. Extinction Rebellion is one of several major examples of nonviolent civil disobedience and direct action over the last year, including the school climate strikes and the resistance to the DSEI arms fair in London in September, which itself resulted in over 100 arrests.

Nonviolent resistance exposes as a lie the claim that power can be maintained only through violence. Active nonviolence – including direct action, civil disobedience and mass non-cooperation, as well as many forms of lawful campaigning – undermines the common notion that we must choose between violence and passivity. As pacifists have long maintained, nonviolence is an ethical and effective alternative to both. Symon HillCampaigns and communications manager, Peace Pledge Union

• Polly Toynbee is spot-on (The veteran heroes of Extinction, G2, 16 October). We oldies have been demonstrating against Trident, the Iraq war, the poll tax, etc for many years – and getting arrested. I am unable to be in London for the present actions, although I have marched and demonstrated about climate change in Scotland. I am biding my time until November next year, when the next COP summit takes place in Glasgow. This gives me lots of time to plan something really significant.Rose HarvieDumbarton