New research indicates that increased awareness of radical, non-violent climate protests can increase support for moderate climate action groups.
Disruptive climate protests divide opinion and, until now, their effectiveness has been a matter of opinion rather than fact. Researchers at the Social Change Lab, a Cardiff, UK-based non-profit organization, set about changing that by conducting the first study investigating real-time public responses to a protest rather than analyzing hypothetical scenarios or historical events.
The researchers conducted nationally representative surveys immediately before and after a disruptive week-long protest during which Just Stop Oil blocked the M25 motorway – the UK’s busiest highway.
They found that support for Friends of the Earth, an international network of grassroots environmental organizations in 73 countries, was 3.3% higher after the radical protests than before.
The authors suggest that the findings demonstrate a positive example of the radical flank effect, whereby radicals make moderates appear more reasonable by shifting the topic’s Overton window.
Study co-author Markus Ostarek conceded that the effect size is “moderate,” but argued that the findings are “relevant and actionable” and that moderate groups can “use these moments of high momentum to directly negotiate with policymakers.”
