marathon against climate change
Lives of Activists
Portraits from left to right: Nabelle, Sendo Elota, Juliette Rousseau, Marie-Alexandra Perron | Photomontage: Victoria Berni
Activists dedicate their time to the climate fight and the alternative movement so as to curb global warming. What impact does this have on their lives?
By Victoria Berni
France is in the midst of an ideological battle over environmental protection, with liberal ecology, which entails greenwashing and belongs to a destructive economic model, on one side, and radical ecology, which wants to revolutionise our entire way of life on the other. The latter makes its voice heard through civil disobedience actions, demonstrations, petitions and court proceedings.
Behind this commitment are people, some of whom devote all their time to the climate struggle and the alternative movement. Their commitment changes their relationships, their dreams, their lives. What change in course have the activists made in their lives? And how do they keep up with the commitment marathon?
Four activists talk about their militant career paths
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Nabelle (25 years old)
Nabelle has worked for three years as a volunteer on construction sites where everyone learns from each other and everyone is welcome. This experience has given her "trust and confidence in the collective." She no longer believes in "striving for individual success" but focuses "on the struggle and victory of the community." She says she is "happy in humility and gratitude." These values are indispensable for her to fight against "the dehumanisation of our societies today." -
Sendo Elota (23 years old)
Sendo was inspired in his teenage years by his older sister, who founded an association in Congo-Brazzaville to educate the population on environmental and social issues. He organised meetings on ecology in the suburbs of Paris already when he was in secondary school. Opposed to the capitalist teachings of his business school, he wants to initiate a decolonial ecology in the suburbs that is accessible to all. Sendo firmly rejects career "opportunities" and instead engages in projects that make a difference, "even though some of my friends are puzzled and it entails financial risks." -
Juliette Rousseau (34 Jyears old)
Juliette Rousseau explains that she "renounced social advancement even though there were opportunities to achieve more" than her parents, who work as caregivers: "I knew I would not find fulfilment and meaning in a profession that corresponded to my studies. In 2016, I gave up a career, a heteronormative family and the city to live in a protest camp, the Zone À Defendre (ZAD)[Zone to Defend] of Notre-Dame-des-Landes.“ -
Marie-Alexandra Perron (29 years)
Marie-Alexandra embarked on ecology on a small scale, geared to what is known as the Hummingbird Movement. But this individual ecology is no longer enough for her: “I felt crushed by the competitive and exploitative system of my architecture school and the labour market. I see clearly now that climate change is a consequence of Western and capitalist domination, and I no longer want any part of it. My whole being and action are under the sign of a radical ecology.”
Grieving: individual and collective healing
"I feel sad every day when I see this destroyed landscape," says Juliette, who now lives back where she grew up. "I remember the biodiversity I knew as a child that no longer exists. What else can I pass on to my own daughter than an iron will to defend this landscape?"Her activism is not only about grief and abandonment, however. It has also given her empathy: "To fight was to open my heart. Commitment is the joy of going beyond what we have been prescribed - to open up to the suffering of others and accept that their pain becomes mine too; to empathise stories of sexual assault or the threat of deportation. Anger is commonplace. The question is, how do I manage it so that it won’t eat me up?"
Nabelle talks about the healing culture at Extinction Rebellion: "We try to bear the burdens together, we talk about our feelings and fears before or after an action." Sendo, on the other hand, practices artivism. He writes, slams, dances and talks about ecology and social issues: "Art does not reduce the violence of reality. It gives it a new guise. It is important to me not to let injustice crush me. I used to rebel full of grief, and that drained a lot of energy from me. I no longer wanted to react, but to act and create something that is feasible in the long term."
The collective: a new basis for interpersonal relationships
Marie-Alexandra explains that she found a new circle of friends: "My closest environment consists almost exclusively of activists who ask themselves the same questions. Very many of us see ourselves on the margins of society."Juliette has found a new family in the activist scene: "I live in a commune with people from different cultures, and together we try to give spirituality a place in our lives again. We have celebrated a revolutionary Hanukkah, Celtic festivals and the winter solstice. This is upsetting my cultural heritage. My visits to queer places have changed my view of family. We decided to raise my daughter with other adults."
The question is how the pandemic affects these relationships and the marathon that many activists are running. Lola from Belgium will have a few things to say about this in the next post.