Sorry for the Inconvenience But This Is an Emergency

Book excerpt: As floods and fires rage across the planet, ever more people are embracing nonviolent action to achieve political change. Can it work? Doctor and aid worker Lynne Jones offers a compelling, ground-level account of the last five years of UK protests, exploring how and why ordinary citizens have adopted extraordinary methods to confront the climate and nature crises. Sharing her 1980s experiences opposing nuclear weapons at Greenham Common, and her journey in movements like Extinction Rebellion today, Jones reflects on public history and her personal story to unpack nonviolent protest in a world on the brink. Can we learn from past movements? How to communicate with those who disagree? What kind of disruption is most effective in Western democracies? Is property damage nonviolent? Is the law just? How important are direct interventions, boycotts and non-cooperation? What can indigenous campaigners of the Global South teach us? A lifetime of activism has taught Jones that we all have more power than we realise. It’s time to use that power—before it’s too late.