“A central part of the nonviolence training are these kind of roleplaying games.”
I’ve written a bit here and there about the overlap between games, video games and protest movements.
The below is a transcript of that conversation which has been edited down for length and clarity.
RPS: Can you tell me a little about yourself?
How did you get involved with Just Stop Oil?
Feels like a while ago now!
When I started at university, I became involved withExtinctionRebellion, before Covid.
But I suppose being under lockdown gave me more time to think, reflect, look these things up.
And so my faith in the government to deal with the climate crisis just kind of evaporated.
I mean, I’d been thinking, ‘Oh, it’s such a big crisis.
It’s so significant.
I was at a protest at COP 26 in Glasgow.
It is mine and everybody else’s lives that are at stake here.
And so I was involved in a lot of the protests that happened at oil terminals.
That’ll be in April 2022, where we were blocking the distribution of petrol from these terminals.
And yeah, and that’s when my Just Stop Oil experience started.
RPS: You’ve been much more engaged than I have!
But still, why protest at a gaming event rather than going after Barclays directly?
But on top of that, we’ve done lots of protests of cultural events.
The point is that these kinds of protests are the ones that get visibility.
It was mostly gamers that targeted EGX for that protest.
I did a protest wherewe blocked the Coca Cola float at Pride, and everybody doing that was queer.
RPS: Have you ever thought about doing any kind of protest actionwithingames like Fortnite?
OC:That’s an interesting thought.
I personally haven’t - I’m sure other people at Just Stop Oil have.
People put themselves on the line for it.
RPS: Obviously, the stakes are much, much lower in a virtual environment.
Though as you say, at the end of the day, not much is risked.
But maybe there’s room in your work for that more mundane kind of subversion.
RPS: I can see that, for sure.
How much does Just Stop Oil gather data about how much change is taking place?
Are you able to join the dots between particular protests and, say, government policy?
OC:There’s certainly been been polling, and there have been reports commissioned.
And the amount of media that’s generated about Just Stop Oil gets tracked and monitored.
RPS: Have you been tracking how gamers reacted to the EGX protest?
OC:I personally haven’t, but I’m sure somebody has!
But on the other hand, it’s just kind of fun!
OC:It’s interesting, and it’s true.
Oftentimes, they’ve been really kind of zany protests!
I think looking too kind of austere and serious can be off-putting.
And they actuallyabseiled down from the public viewing gallery in Parliamentto the floor of the House of Commons.
OC:Yeah, I mean the world is absurd and ridiculous.
And them saying, ‘Oh, you know what?
Let’s license more’.
That’s ridiculous, and maybe a more kind of absurd protest can point that out.
OC:I suppose so.
RPS: I think I should have!
You don’t do things that can escalate your situation.
It feels like a sort of drama game.
RPS: Yeah, I can really see that.
I can see how having a persona to play simplifies your interactions a bit.
And obviously, it can do that in a bad way.
you could have a persona that makes you more likely to be violent.
OC:Yeah, yeah.
And that sort of allows things to be smooth and crucially, to be nonviolent.
Have you come across anything like that in your research into the older protest movements you’ve mentioned?
OC:I haven’t heard that before, about the Hong Kong protests with Pokemon Go.
And they were stopping and searching people.
And this guy, this vicar was one of the protesters.
There was a huge outdoor chess set in the park.
He started playing chess with the cops.
It was quite a sight.
RPS: Who won?
OC:The protestor!
