Documentary Reflection – The Social Value of Activism
February 2, 2023 By: Richard Scott
The report I found is from CTV news, on 3 May 2022. It’s about saving old growth forests in BC. I’m all for sustainable development but after this unit, I feel more strongly about saving parts of nature that can’t come back for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Old growth forests have been decimated across our province and it’s disgusting to see it continuing. In regards to the story and the ways activists are trying to create public awareness to change government policies, I’m not so sure it’s a good idea to disrupt traffic in BC cities. But on further thought, how else to make people think about it? Are Canadians too polite and law-abiding to see the horror of what the logging industry is doing to BC forests? Or do we trust that the government is doing all it can to save old growth forests? After all, we have a left wing government in BC now, so how else can we hope to preserve these trees if this government doesn’t save them?
Reflecting on the role of civil disobedience, in light of the documentaries in this unit, my link above tends more towards uncivil disobedience, like in the second documentary of this topic. Curry’s film shows extreme uncivil disobedience, far more disruptive than holding up traffic. The first documentary, from Jerry Rothwall, covers the standard protests of civil disobedience, with marching and it being relatively non-confrontational. My main reflection here is how far does a group have to go to get their message across and what social value does it have? I guess the answer lies in how good the opposition is; And who they are, usually means industry groups, lobbyists, and government sympathizers. It’s the squeaky wheel in many respects that often gets the job done. Win or lose with protests, there will always be more awareness for the next environmental cause.
An alternative media item that slightly defends my above answer, which is that any protest or group trying to save important environments is worthy, is from rabble.ca . It espouses the value in protests. Whether it’s civil or uncivil disobedience, in the actions of environmental activists, the activism has a role to play in society. The article reminded me how women at home with the kids were never looked upon as having “work”, in the 1950s or before. Activism is unpaid labour and does have value.
https://rabble.ca/labour/how-activism-labour-defies-capitalism/