There are also other tactics that they have used. Consider, for example, the way they have crashed sports events such as Wimbledon. Women’s Social and Political Union, or suffragettes (as they were commonly called), also used sporting events to promote their cause. Emily Davison’s disruption at the Epsom Derby in 1913 was perhaps the most famous example.
Both protests were able to attract media attention, and their causes were publicised through public actions. Just Stop Oil has acknowledged on their social media that they are referring to the suffragettes when they attack the Rokeby venus. This could suggest they have adopted a suffragette-like tactic, using other movements in order to highlight the peacefulness and pacific nature of their training.
Distance yourself
Climate activists have used the suffragettes as a symbol of bravery and resistance in some cases. Protesters asked on a London march, “would the Suffragette’s have marched in the street?” when they were asked to move. Extinction Rebellion protesters wore suffragette outfits outside a courtroom where seven women were being held for damaging Barclays Headquarters.
Extinction Rebellion, as well as Just Stop Oil, have distinguished between their actions and those of the suffragettes.
By focusing on the more violent actions of the suffragettes, such as arson attacks on tea rooms, railway stations, and churches, Extinction Rebellion Global reinforced their commitment to XR is dedicated to non-violence.”
Extinction Rebellion, Stop Oil, and other non-violent movements refer to themselves in this way. The WSPU’s comparisons with the suffragettes highlight that they cannot define themselves as such.
Despite the WSPU’s insistence that no human life should be harmed by arson or bombing, these attacks were violent. The comparisons made by climate activists to the suffragettes have shown how little danger they pose to the public. The same was true in regards to damage caused to artwork.
Alex De Koning, spokesperson for Just Stop Oil, in an Interview with Euronews, compared the way suffragettes “slashed and violently destroyed” paintings. He said that this was the exact opposite of Just Stop Oil “throwing soup on a window pane.”
De Koning told Sky News that they could escalate their campaign and “take inspiration from previous successful movements.” De Koning’s minimization of Just Stop Oil actions reinforces the idea that they are less harmful than suffragettes.
The destruction of cricket pavilions and stands at race tracks, golf clubs, and racing tracks was part of the suffragette arson campaign.
A groundsman with flammable material caught a suffragette in 1913, and a suffragette at Wimbledon made a similar attempt to arson. The arson attempts were carried out at night, and the main focus was to damage property rather than threaten human life. Just Stop Oil uses confetti, jigsaws, and other items that pale in comparison to what the suffragettes used: firelighters and paraffin.
Justification in history
Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil have both used the image of suffragettes to contrast their more peaceful actions against the more extreme ones of the past. They have used Emmeline’s tactic.
Pankhurst compared the actions of contemporary figures in her speeches and autobiography. She often criticized Edward Carson and Ulster Unionists, claiming that they had caused more violence than her but had not been imprisoned.