Alexis Vrignon is a historian, lecturer at the University of Orléans, co-author ofA history of struggles for the environment (Textual, 2021) and author of The birth of political ecology in France (PURE, 2017). He returns to the current political context, which at the same time sees an increase in the actions of environmental activists – not without some clashes as was the case in Sainte-Soline (Deux-Sèvres) – and the opening of the Congress of Europe Ecology-The Greens (EELV). However, these tensions between activists and environmentalist political figures are part of a long history, according to the researcher.
Since September, many environmental actions have had a media impact: happenings by young activists in museums around the world, ZAD de La Clusaz (Haute-Savoie), demonstrations against mega-basins in Sainte-Soline… These actions, if they have references and common objectives, are nevertheless different from each other. Can we make a typology?
First of all, we have seen a type of mobilization take place that we observe quite frequently in history: that which settles in response to a localized conflict of use, with a mobilization on the ground of various militants and varied in origin. It is this type of mobilization that saw the light of day in Larzac in the 1970s, but also in the context of anti-nuclear struggles and, to a certain extent, even if the events are not comparable, in Notre-Dame-des- Landes (Loire-Atlantique) in the 2010s.
There is also a whole series of actions – which had already begun to multiply before the health crisis due to Covid-19 – based on the occupation of public space: I am thinking, for example, of the organization Last Renovation in front of the National Assembly, carried out on November 3, during which activists stuck to the road to draw the attention of the media and the public to the issue of energy renovation.
But the form of activism that has struck the most in this return to school, because it is partly new, is that which takes recognized works of art as a support to challenge public opinion. The place invested changes from the ordinary, since there is no direct link between the works (or the museums where they are kept) and the climate issue. These actions are part of a strategy of media coverage of environmental issues, rather than opposition or promotion of a particular project.
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