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27-576: The Mutiny Collective came together as an anarchist collective interested in direct action anti-war protest after the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003 and has organised or participated in a number of protests against corporations involved in the war in Iraq, including office occupations. The collective has participated in conferences such as the Sydney Social Forum in 2004, presenting papers or workshops on topics such as Profiting from

54-610: A bandanna soaked in vinegar to combat the effects of pepper spray." The Mutiny collective contributed one article to the manual in which they were quoted by the Daily Telegraph "It is important to defy police attempts to frighten us," New South Wales Police Minister David Campbell used the FLARE in the Void convergence manual as justification for strong security presence at APEC "The fact that this group called Mutiny have distributed

81-524: A banner from Mount Rushmore , placing President Obama's face next to other historic presidents. The banner read: "History honors leaders. Stop global warming." Human rights activists have used direct action in the campaign to close the School of the Americas (SOA). 245 SOA Watch protestors have collectively spent almost 100 years in prison, and more than 50 people have served probation sentences. In

108-530: A certain practice (such as a government's laws or actions) or to solve perceived problems (such as social inequality). Direct action may include activities, often nonviolent but possibly violent, targeting people, groups, institutions, actions, or property that its participants deem objectionable. Nonviolent direct action may include civil disobedience , sit-ins , strikes , and counter-economics . Violent direct action may include political violence , assault , arson , sabotage , and property destruction . It

135-470: A form of direct action. Examples of direct action pranks include the use of stink , critter, and paint bombs. Protestors may pie their targets. The Yes Men practice nonviolent direct action through pranks. Some direct action groups form legal teams, addressing interactions with the law enforcement, judges, and courts. Definitions of what constitutes violent or nonviolent direct action vary. Sociologist Dieter Rucht states that determining if an act

162-643: A militant variant of anarchist ideology, primarily deals with direct action against governments. Insurrectionist anarchists see countries as inherently controlled by the upper classes, and thereby impossible to reform . While the vast majority of anarchists are not militant and do not engage in militant actions, insurrectionists take violent action against the state and other targets. Most insurrectionary anarchists largely reject mass grassroots organizations created by other anarchists, instead calling for coordinated militant action to be taken by decentralized cell networks . Fascism emphasizes direct action, including

189-661: A refusal to work within hierarchical bureaucratic institutions . Direct action protestors may perform activities such as: Some protestors dress in black bloc , wearing black clothing and face coverings to obscure their identities. Ende Gelände protestors wear matching white suits. One of Greenpeace's tactics is to install banners in trees or at symbolic places like offices, statues, nuclear power plants. Direct action protestors may also destroy property through actions such as vandalism , theft , breaking and entering , sabotage , tree spiking , arson , bombing , ecotage , or eco-terrorism . Pranks may also be considered

216-460: A similar percentage believed defacing art or public monuments should be criminalized. The question of engaging in radical protest is known as the "activist's dilemma": "activists must choose between moderate actions that are largely ignored and more extreme actions that succeed in gaining attention, but may be counterproductive to their aims as they tend to make people think less of the protesters." Economic power Economic power refers to

243-704: A tool of both owners and workers, and for this reason he included lockouts and cartels , as well as strikes and sabotage . Canadian anarchist Ann Hansen , one of the Squamish Five , wrote in her book Direct Action that "the essence of direct action [...] is people fighting for themselves, rejecting those who claim to represent their true interests, whether they be revolutionaries or government officials". Activist trainer and author Daniel Hunter states 'Nonviolent direct action are techniques outside of institutionalized behavior for waging conflict using methods of protest, noncooperation, and intervention without

270-461: A violent protests step-by-step guide I think demonstrates what police have known all along - that there were people intent on violent behaviour at APEC," One of the organisers of FLARE in the Void, Lou Thatcher, replied in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald "[The manual] is clearly being used in a manipulative and false way as part of a fear campaign," In 2008 Mutiny was one of several peace and antiwar groups planning to protest and disrupt

297-587: Is harm directed toward living things. American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. , who used direct action tactics such as boycotts and sit-ins , felt that the goal of nonviolent direct action was to "create such a crisis and foster such a tension" as to demand a response. Mahatma Gandhi 's methods, which he called satyagraha , did not involve confrontation and could be described as "removal of support" without breaking laws besides those explicitly targeted. Examples of targeted laws include

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324-499: Is not known when the term direct action first appeared. Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset wrote that the term and concept of direct action originated in fin de siècle France. The Industrial Workers of the World union first mentioned the term "direct action" in a publication about the 1910 Chicago strike . American anarchist Voltairine de Cleyre wrote the essay "Direct Action" in 1912, offering historical examples such as

351-481: Is violent falls along a spectrum or gradient—lesser property damage is not violence, injuries to humans are violent, and acts in between could be labelled either way depending on the circumstances. Rucht states that definitions of "violence" vary widely, and cultural perspectives can also color such labels. American political scientist Gene Sharp defined nonviolent direct action as "those methods of protest, resistance, and intervention without physical violence in which

378-647: The Asia-Pacific Defence and Security Exhibition to be held in Adelaide on 11 November 2008. Acting South Australian Premier Kevin Foley announced the cancellation of the military arms fair saying "The decision was taken that the cost of security, the possible threats of violence, were risks that the organisers of the event and the Government agreed were not worth proceeding with." He also accused all

405-605: The Boston Tea Party and the American anti-slavery movement , and writing that "direct action has always been used, and has the historical sanction of the very people now reprobating it." In his 1920 book Direct Action , William Mellor categorized direct action with the struggle between worker and employer for economic control. Mellor defined it "as the use of some form of economic power for securing of ends desired by those who possess that power." He considered it

432-583: The Socialist Alliance and Socialist Alternative . Anarchist and autonomist activists had organised a conference/workshop in Sydney to coincide with the APEC meeting, F.L.A.R.E. in the Void convergence 4–9 September 2007. Five of the organisers of this conference were placed on the police excluded person list for APEC declared areas. A manual was published in association with the convergence detailing

459-669: The salt tax and the Asiatic Registration Act . His preferred actions were largely symbolic and peaceful, and included "withdrawing membership, participation or attendance in government-operated [...] agencies." Gandhi and American civil rights leader James Bevel were strongly influenced by Leo Tolstoy 's 1894 book The Kingdom of God Is Within You , which promotes passive resistance . Other terms for nonviolent direct action include civil resistance , people power , and positive action . Insurrectionary anarchism ,

486-576: The "why and how of affinity groups, Forming affinity groups, Developing Shared intent, Hands on blockading and defence against police violence, and Practice scenarios", and also containing information on basic safety precautions for protests taken from manuals produced in North America and Europe. The Daily Telegraph reported the manual advised protestors of how "to wear gas masks, goggles, running shoes and full-body clothing to protect from tear gas and capsicum spray. It also advises carrying water and

513-604: The Mutiny collective in May 2007, the group said that it had been "smeared by the corporate media and much of the left for action at the g20 summit". The comments by Marcus Greville that allegedly implicated Mutiny in the confrontations with the police and blamed the violence on anarchists at the G20 protests were broadcast on ABC radio: were picked up widely by the media, as well as by conservative Christian NSW MP Reverend Fred Nile , who told

540-549: The NSW parliament that "Organisers of the G20 protest said that members of Mutiny and Arterial Bloc were responsible for the violence." The Mutiny Collective made it clear in that open letter that they were not "planning so-called 'violent protest' or know of some secret plans. We have no idea. Preparing for APEC protests has not been a priority for us as a group." The open letter was part of the discussion on protest tactics with regard to civil disobedience and possible confrontation with

567-610: The United States, direct action is increasingly used to oppose the fossil fuel industry, oil drilling , pipelines, and gas power plant projects. Direct action was taken at arms factories in the United States and the United Kingdom that supplied arms to Israel during the Israel–Hamas war . Anarchists organize almost exclusively through direct action, which they use due to a rejection of party politics and

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594-418: The intending protestors of being "these feral anarchists": "These are feral, low-life people who want society to be in a state of near anarchy for their perverse pleasure," he said. Direct action Direct action is a term for economic and political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action is to either obstruct

621-562: The legitimization of political violence , as a core part of its politics. While radical activism has been effective as part of the civil rights movement , forceful or violent environmental sabotage (FVES) can have a "negative impact on voter attitudes toward all environmental organizations", though that effect is contingent on the organizations' prior record. In polls conducted in the United Kingdom , two thirds of respondents supported non-violent environmental direct action, while

648-428: The members of the nonviolent group do, or refuse to do, certain things." American anarchist Voltairine de Cleyre wrote that violent direct action utilizes physical, injurious force against people or, occasionally, property. Some activist groups, such as Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front , use property destruction, arson, and sabotage and claim their acts are nonviolent as they believe that violence

675-498: The police at APEC protests. According to a Green Left report of a Stop Bush Coalition meeting on 30 April "members of the anarchist group Mutiny, the student-based Solidarity group and the International Socialist Organisation argued for, and won, a motion to remove the line 'Join the peaceful protest at APEC' from a poster advertising the rally." The motion was opposed by members of Resistance ,

702-536: The reconstruction of Iraq , Re-colonising the Pond: Australia, New Zealand, and the G20's shadow over the Pacific , and How Australian imperialism in the region fits into a neo-liberal context . Since early 2006 Mutiny have published a monthly zine , called Mutiny - A Paper of Anarchistic Ideas and Actions , exploring Australian imperialism, disobedience and resistance in the Pacific. In an open letter by

729-564: The use or threat of injurious force. Anti-globalization activists forced the Seattle WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 to end early via direct action tactics and prefigurative politics . On April 28, 2009, Greenpeace activists, including Phil Radford , scaled a crane across the street from the Department of State , calling on world leaders to address climate change. Soon thereafter, they dropped

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