An Extinction Rebellion protester with a Halloween themed placard in West Parliament Square (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
Last weekend I was out on the Royal Mile preparing for a Geographies of Protest walking tour for the third year students. It just so happened that I witnessed a protest organised by Extinction Rebellion whilst I was out and about. The protest was in two parts: the first was an animal die-in in West Parliament Square, and the second was a march down the Royal Mile from Edinburgh Castle to the Scottish Parliament. It is always interesting to witness a protest first hand, and this was no exception.
A die-in is a type of protest where activists simulate pretend to be dead. It is a tactic that Extinction Rebellion have used before. This die-in was designed to highlight the decline of wildlife in Scotland (Photo: Hannah Awcock).The protesters wore hats that represented different British and Scottish species (Photo: Hannah Awcock).They also displayed facts about the decline of each species (Photo: Hannah Awcock).After an ominous drum-beat, each activist read out the fact about their species, then lay down on the ground (Photo: Hannah Awcock).It wasn’t a large protest, there were maybe 20 activists involved, but they chose an effective way to get their point across (Photo: Hannah Awcock).This banner faced out onto the Royal Mile to convey the main message of the protest action to passersby (Photo: Hannah Awcock).After the die-in, another group of activists started to march down the Royal Mile from Edinburgh Castle. Again, it was a relatively small group (Photo: Hannah Awcock).Once the march reached the Scottish Parliament the activists arranged their banners for photographers and observers. There was one or two speeches, but I got the impression that these were more for the activists themselves than any observers (Photo: Hannah Awcock).This was the first protest I have attended since social distancing and face masks became necessary. It felt like a more muted experience, but that could also have been because the numbers were relatively small. I am impressed with the way that activists are adapting their strategies and tactics to this new normal though (Photo: Hannah Awcock).There was a visible police presence throughout the protest, and there were several police vans parked nearby that presumably contained more officers. It felt over the top, but wasn’t too intimidating (Photo: Hannah Awcock).
University Teacher in Human Geography at the University of Edinburgh. Interested in the cultural, historical, and political geographies of resistance.
View all posts by Hannah Awcock
Published
One thought on “Ecological Depletion is Scary: Halloween Extinction Rebellion Protests on the Royal Mile”
Turbulent Isles 
One thought on “Ecological Depletion is Scary: Halloween Extinction Rebellion Protests on the Royal Mile”