Inside a Just Stop Oil meeting in Bristol

I was trying to make sense of it all; the soup, the traffic blocking, the orange paint when I came across an event in Bristol.

Just in case you’ve been hiding from social media, or just taking care of your mental health, I’ll give you a quick rundown of actions that have made recent headlines: Two members of Just Stop Oil, an activist group against new oil and gas licences, recently threw tomato soup at Van Gogh’s sunflowers, on display at the National Gallery in London. 

Beyond that, members of the group have been regularly blocking roads and streets and targeting some of the capital’s most prominent buildings.

The group – or more accurately the tactics they use to shine a light on issues – has split opinion across the nation.

I couldn’t stop scrolling on Twitter, reading every sort of ‘takes’ about the Van Gogh painting. I couldn’t make my mind up about it (he’s my favourite painter).

The first thing that I was curious to know was whether the painting was protected or not. A quick search showed that it was behind glass, it was probably unharmed after the “brutal” soup “attack”.

I’m not the one to quickly jump to conclusions, I like to read and take on as much information as possible before forming an opinion on issues. But, how long could I possibly need to make up my mind this time?

The future of climate activism lies in collectivism

I followed the instructions on the Eventbrite page, walking through an alleyway near the Christmas Steps to get to the Just Stop Oil meeting in Bristol. As soon as I got to the spot that the map was indicating, I couldn’t see anything, I thought they had maybe called off the event.

Then I saw two people were waiting at the entrance holding some orange leaflets. They were Just Stop Oil activists. I told them I was there for the meeting and they signalled me to follow them to the meeting spot: It was inside an art gallery.

The meeting didn’t go as I imagined it would. The two activists conducting the meeting opened by explaining the day’s order.

With tears in her eyes, the woman in front of us was passionately telling how she got involved in environmental activism in the first place, how we all were living in a sort of ‘cognitive dissonance’ trying to ignore the crumbling world as we knew it while trying to get on living a ‘normal’ life.

She was doing it for all of us, but also for her daughter, who is still a child. The thought of the world that we are going to leave behind for her offspring was a consuming worry.

After the powerful opening, we went around the circle discussing why we were there and, for a moment, it seemed like we all felt the embrace of not being alone in what sometimes feels like an uphill battle.

The activist’s dilemma

But of course, the ‘soup attack’ wasn’t left undiscussed. The audience was asking how that would affect people’s opinions about the group, and how that could shift public support.

One thing remained true: Just stop Oil was and still is making it to the front pages of the media, whether we agree with their methods of direct action and civil disobedience.

However, a paper published by Cambridge University, shows that protest does also play a role in ‘agenda seeding’. It means, in the words of the latest Cabot Institute entry, that: “It doesn’t necessarily tell people what to think, but influences what they think about.”

Professor Colin Davis, chair in cognitive psychology at the University of Bristol, has also conducted research within this field, showing something called “the activist’s dilemma”.

This basically consists of choosing moderate courses of action that go ignored, or ‘extreme’ actions that track attention but will ‘harm’ their public reputation.

Then, is throwing soup at a protected painting an extreme action? How extreme is trying to get public attention when we just witnessed record-breaking temperatures last summer, while other countries in the world experience flooding and all sort of climate-related disasters? The debate’s still open.

Soup for thought 

I left the meeting thinking about why we ask so much from activists. Why the debate on social media keeps revolving around who is a better activist with a ‘valid enough’ background because if you are ‘too old’, or from a privileged background, your anger is not justified.

How are we collectively processing the massive change in nature, and the world, as we know it? Beyond direct actions, I do believe these activist groups also serve the purpose of embracing each other in the unpredictability of what’s to come.

Whether you agree or disagree with the methods that Just Stop Oil activists are employing, there’s no denying the effect they’re having. Are we really legitimised to criticise their ways while we sit down and watch the world crumble?

As much as I love Van Gogh, there’ll be no art on a dead planet.

This piece of independent journalism is supported by NatWest and the Bristol24/7 public and business membership

Main photo: Just Stop Oil 

Read next:

• Is walking a neglected mode of transport in Bristol? 
• ‘How can we reach net zero when our public transport system is in shambles?’ 
• ‘How can we escape the vicious cycle of buy, wear, repeat?’ 
• Tackling the big questions climate change poses 

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