XR Principles and Values

I have been involved in XR since August and was actively involved in October’s rebellion.  I am deeply drawn to XR due to its mission, approach and its ability to bring people together in common cause to advocate for meaningful action on climate change.  

I recognise that XR is an autonomous and decentralised network and that it is a network that is rapidly expanding, both of which are wonderful things that add to the power of XR, as well as being challenging at times.  For me, the most challenging part lies in XR’s participant base and the reasons underpinning that.

XR’s participant base spans all ages and is very inclusive of people with disabilities, which is a very beautiful thing to witness and be a part of, however, it is also is disproportionately white and middle class.  Whilst there are undoubtedly external obstacles for participation by working class people and people of colour, such as income levels, amount of free time, ability to pay for child care and the need focus on other more immediate issues regarding employment, crime, discrimination and housing, there are also internal obstacles to participation, which XR needs to address.

I have noticed that since XR came under considerable criticism for this after April’s rebellion, particularly with regards to people of colour, the network has done a lot to remedy this, through the provision of oppression and decolonisation workshops and increased focus on climate justice in local actions in the UK and in supporting networks in the Global South.  This is incredibly positive and reflects the willingness and ability of the network to engage constructively with criticism that it receives.  I also believe however that the network needs to go further to embed social justice within its very core.  

If we truly want to see a world that acts effectively to the climate crisis we are facing, we need that action to be underpinned by a recognition that its impact is most catastrophic for economically marginalised communities and people of colour and therefore those communities must be at the heart of any action.  In my opinion, our vision, why we rebel, strategy, structure, principle and values, and demands (hereafter XR ethos) do not sufficiently embody social justice and yet we need to be the change we want to see in the world.  References are made in some of these to oppression, colonialism, slavery etc. but these need to go further.  There are references to “poverty,” for example, which seeks to put the blame on marginalised communities, rather than on the established elite, for the pernicious nature of capitalism.  There is also a section on “our interaction with the police” and yet nowhere do we acknowledge that the police have traditionally acted and continue to act as a brutal, sometimes murderous force of racist oppression and that our interactions with them need to be guided by that, amongst other things.

I am curious to know the demographic make-up of the people who developed XR’s ethos.  I would imagine (and may of course be wrong) that it was not very diverse and so cannot accurately and fully represent the experiences and voices of oppressed communities.  

It is therefore unsurprising to me that during XR rebellions and actions, there are often incidences that create further network-related barriers for participation by working class people and people of colour.  In October’s rebellion, for example, I was most struck and upset by (and I’m sure there are many more incidences of which I am not aware):

·       XR participants leaving flowers for the police, singing “we love you” to the police, engaging the police unnecessarily in friendly conversation etc.  This is grossly insensitive to the reality of many people of colour in this country who are routinely harassed by the police, disproportionately arrested, suffer violence and/or are murdered by the police.  By engaging in this type of behaviour, which is widespread across the network, XR is condoning and fraternising with a structural system of oppression.  XR can still hold true to its principles of non-violent direct action and no blaming or shaming (at an individual level), without fraternising with the police.

·       Arrestees being celebrated.  Whilst arrestees should undoubtedly be supported throughout the process, celebrating their arrest is, in my opinion, again insensitive to the lived experiences of many people of colour who are stopped and searched and/or arrested often in a discriminatory, brutal and undignified way.  This is nothing to celebrate and XR celebrating their arrestees (we can be grateful and supportive without celebrating) is wilfully and harmfully oblivious to the people who experience structural oppression through arrest  - and throughout law enforcement and the legal system. 

·       The Animal Rebellion action at Billingsgate Fish Market and XR swarms that operate in areas largely used by taxi drivers (e.g. by Charring Cross station entrance).  This targets individuals, who may be working independently, at an economic level and shows no concern for the financial impact that this may have on people, particularly those with lower income.  

These actions and behaviours are rooted in white, middle class privilege.  I have no doubt that this is both because social justice is not truly and meaningfully embedded in XR’s vision, why we rebel, strategy, structure, principle and values, and demands and because XR’s demographic is predominantly white and middle class.  If we work on addressing the former, I believe we can address the latter by removing barriers to participation.

It is my proposal that XR form a People’s Assembly for people of colour and a People’s Assembly for working class/economically marginalised people to review and amend XR’s vision, why we rebel, strategy, structure, principle and values, and demands and/or make decisions on any area that is relevant and necessary for ensuring social justice is at the core of why XR exists, how we operate and what we want to achieve.  This in turn should inform our future actions and rebellions to ensure that challenging structural oppression is at the heart of our climate activism.

I have no doubt that this process would be beneficial for many marginalised communities but feel that given much of the criticism levelled at XR over the past few months, perhaps this is where we need to start.

I should name here that I am a white, middle class, British woman, which is inherently problematic for the reasons named above.  I do not know how to resolve this tension and so can only name it.

Love and rage!

I'd also love to respond to this rich and deeply considered post (thank you) but please can we avoid duplication? There's already so many messages and it's hard to track threads, let's keep just one of your posts and I'll reply there rather than fragmenting the conversation?

Thanks, Luke - XR UK Strategy Stewardship Team

Hi Skye, I responded to your same post in the other thread...