PARTIES AND MOVEMENTS
important symbol of their impotence was the decision by FoE to withdraw
from Twyford Down soon after construction began, when it was landed with
aseries of injunctions that threatened the sequestration of its assets. Into
this political void stepped the eco-warriors, who were prepared to take those
formsofdirect action that frightened off the mainstream groups. The emer-
gence ofEarth First! (UK) in 1991 was critical: by 1997 there were around 60
active groups and its annual gathering was attended by about 400 activists
(Doherty 1998 : 68; Wall 1999 ). Not all eco-protesters identified with Earth
First!, but common practices characterised the whole anti-roads movement.
Organisationally, it was informal, decentralised and non-hierarchical. The
activists were deeply alienated from the political parties, groups and insti-
tutions. Eco-protest appealed to a particular kind of person:Mostly young, in their twenties or late teens, in education or choosing to live
on a low income... most are in effect full-time political activists. Becoming
an eco-protester means making a commitment to a lifestyle based mainly in
protest camps or communal houses, in which many possessions are shared,
income is minimal, and codes of conduct that minimise impact on the envi-
ronment are observed. [They] have little concern with formal ideology, even of
agreen kind, but share a belief that ‘do-it-yourself political action’ is the only
viable means of improving democracy and overcoming the ecological crisis.
(Doherty 1999 :276–7)Although the road-building programme was their main focus, their concerns
embraced broader questions about the centralised power of the British state,
land ownership and the curtailments of civil liberties. The eco-protesters also
campaigned against a second runway at Manchester Airport, open-cast min-
ing and quarrying. As the anti-roads movement wound down around 1996,
many individuals became involved in groups like Reclaim the Streets and
The Land is Ours that developed a more positive agenda, linking existing pat-
terns ofcar use and land ownership to environmental problems, and were
more sharply influenced by social justice issues. From 1999, many joined
thedirect action protests against GM crop experiments or targeted multina-
tionals such as McDonalds, Shell and BP, while others shifted attention to
theGlobal Justice Movement (see below). Doherty’s ( 1999 )description of the
eco-protesters as ‘the first full expression of the new social movement type
in British environmental politics’ (p. 290) seems apt.^10Critical question 3
Is a vibrant grassroots sector a sign of an effective environmental movement?◗ Anewcivic politics?
The two preceding sections have shown that the environmental move-
ment encompasses a rich mix of organisational forms, strategies and tactics