Stopping Oil: Climate Justice and Hope by Sophie Bond, Amanda Thomas and Gradon Diprose
Stopping Oil: Climate Justice and Hope is primarily an assessment of Oil Free, a collection of campaigns aimed at stopping deep-sea exploration in New Zealand in the 2010s. The book looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the campaign, the difficulties throughout, and the response of the state and capital.
A large portion of the book explores neoliberalism in New Zealand and how it impacted on national policy on climate change. It looks how it worked to disenfranchise and disempower the Māori population who lived on the island for 500 years before white settlers arrived from Europe. Neoliberalism protected business interests by undermining the limited promises in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the treaty between Britain and the Māori.
The authors look at how the media and police used tactics to dehumanise and engender violence against activists involved in the campaign. In some instances, police encouraged people to push past and act violently towards activists who were taking part in direct action. Media responses to this showed activists being confronted by members of the public. It sought to delegitimise the movement with no acknowledgement of the climate crisis driving activists’ actions, nor the role of the state in stimulating this response from the public.
Another strength is that the authors demonstrate how policing came to exist during colonisation. And the legacy of this process of dispossession and violence continues with racism and the greatest impact of climate change on those who suffered under imperialism.
Although it focuses on New Zealand, many lessons from the campaign can be applied more broadly.
One pitfall of the campaign was the use of what the authors describe as “eco-nationalism”. It specifically drew on a sense of national identity and identification with the landscape to mobilise people against extraction. They write, “Activists suggested that connections with beaches were a key part of ‘who we are’ as New Zealanders. The narrative created drew on an idea that all New Zealanders are universally passionate and care about beaches.”
Activists used nationalism as a means to try engaging with communities rather than arguing for a transition away from fossil fuel use based on the need for a stable climate or respect for Indigenous rights. “This kind of eco-nationalist narrative that appeals to, and reinforces ‘universal values’ can be exclusionary, and may reflect dominant values, such as those inherent to colonialism or those in privileged positions who can access regular beach holidays,” they explain. Drawing on nationalist ideas made it easier to satisfy the calls for change within the realms of “business as usual”, rather than addressing the drivers of the climate crisis.
By the end of the read, the authors show the climate movement in its complexity, exploring the contradictions and challenges within it. One devastating example is the School Strike 4 Climate group disbanding in response to criticisms that they ignored Indigenous voices, rather than seeking to address them.
At times, the book draws on identity politics while simultaneously critiquing its impacts on the movement and on activists.
The final chapter is well worth reading as it draws out disagreements within the climate movement. It’s not just relevant to New Zealand, but to the movement globally. It looks at the thoughts of activists towards direct action, a police monopoly on violence, and the need for anti-capitalist revolution.
Too many internal references to past or future chapters can make the book feel somewhat repetitive at times. If the chapters were more focused and organised without internal references there would be more space for analysis of the campaigns and about an effective strategy which was lacking.
Although it doesn’t draw any concrete political conclusions, the book generally and the closing chapter specifically do well to look at the tensions in the way forward. It can help inform your ideas about how to negotiate this tricky terrain as an activist in a politically broad movement.
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