Police and a protester against globalisation in London
(PA/EMPICS)

Direct Action

What do you do when elected politicians aren't delivering the goods? For lots of people, the answer is: take matters into your own hands. This may carry a health warning. But it can also be a very effective way of getting your agenda noticed.

A lot of campaigns for social change use at least some kind of direct action. From sit-ins, strikes, boycotts and workplace occupations, to roadblocks, riots and downright sabotage, direct action aims to cause a headache to those holding the cards.

Many direct-actioners are committed to the idea of non-violence, indirectly inspired by teachers like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. But others, like the Animal Liberation Front, use arson, intimidation and the destruction of private property. This has attracted criticism even from within their own movement.

There's no hard line that divides 'good' and 'bad' activists. Where you draw it will depend on your own conscience and principles. Once you take matters into your own hands, you are often acting outside the constraints (and protections) of representative democracy – with all the risks and challenges that implies.

Direct action is certainly not for the faint of heart. Nor is success guaranteed. But even if you don't get what you want, it can be pretty satisfying to try!