Not just a youth movement: history too often forgets older protesters

• Activists have occupied trains, railway lines and machinery in an attempt to obstruct coal production and broadcast their message about the climate crisis.
• Recently, Iranian activists have started engaging in “micro-protests”, which are small-scale protests over a shorter period of time, to evade arrest.

The youth are revolting

• Many might think of figures like Lidia Thorpe disrupting the 2023 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade or ongoing protests by School Strike 4 Climate, which have shown how willing young people are to agitate for their collective futures.
• But, in fact, one of the two anti-coal activists charged on last month for occupying a train in Singleton, New South Wales, is 64 years old.

Quiet protest

• These were all carried out by people who were opposed to the war, and are all considered acts of protest.
• Social movement theorists agree that time and availability are crucial in drawing people to protest.

Time and capacity

• But what of those who did not have the time or capacity to march on streets, but who still saw themselves as part of the anti-Vietnam War movement?
• The administrative records of protest organisations held in the State Library of New South Wales let us into the lives of such people.
• These include Ian Robertson, a full-time Macquarie University student, whose parents had banned political activity because they feared it would disrupt his studies.
• Another silent protester was a Mrs Thomson, who was too busy organising her daughter Sue’s wedding to participate in anti-Vietnam protest activities.
• Read more:
  Lidia Thorpe’s Mardi Gras disruption is the latest in an ongoing debate about acceptable forms of protest at Pride

The infrastructure of historical protest

Studying the infrastructure of historical protest organisations shows us that we need to expand our idea of what a protest movement is and who it includes if we want to achieve the present-day goals of activist campaigning. These findings are exciting because they capture a larger group of Australians in the protest tradition, and move past a limited, and often ableist and ageist, vision of protest to incorporate many others who feel just as strongly about the issues governing their lives.