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Case Study: An Outsider Group - Greenpeace (Methods (Patrols the seas,…
Case Study: An Outsider Group - Greenpeace
Outsider groups are those that are not consulted by government and instead try to influence political decision making from the outside. Some outsider groups work towards insider status, whereas others are ideologically opposed to the government and are happy to remain outsiders.
Main Aims
Stopping climate change, defending the oceans, protecting forests, eliminating toxins, working for peace and the removal of nuclear weapons, saving the Arctic.
Membership: almost 3 million members worldwide, with 130,000 in the UK.
Methods
Patrols the seas, intercepting and challenging whalers, nuclear testers and illegal fishers. Its fleet of ships dwarfs many small countries' navies.
Investigates environmental destruction and produces detailed reports to influence governments and the public. Proposes solutions to environmental problems.
Direct action, e.g. shutting down a coal-fired power station in 2007, putting air pollution masks on the faces of 15 statues in London (including Nelson's Column) in 2016, climbing to the top of the Shard in London in 2013 in protest at plans by the oil company Shell to drill the Arctic.
Has used insider methods more in recent years. It lobbies the UK government and parliament and argues that this works well in combination with direct action methods.
A wide range of methods, supported by 2,000 employees and 28 offices across the world and over £300 million in global revenues.
Successes
Its campaign against microbeads succeeded in 2017 when the government announced it would be introducing a ban.
Its campaigns against companies have led to some policy changes. For example, it campaigned against Shell because of its Arctic drilling, which included convincing Lego to refuse to work with Shell. In 2015 announced that it would no longer drill in the Arctic.
Government attitudes towards carbon emissions have changed over recent decades. In 2017 the Conservative government announced plans for a lower carbon economy and there is widespread support for green energy.
Failures
Failed to prevent Cairn Energy from drilling for gas off the coast of Greenland. Protestors criticised the traditional Inuit diet of whale and seal meat, turning locals against Greenpeace.
Some of its methods (including hoaxes and disruptive direct action) have been criticised and can alienate the public and government.
The government’s environmental policies do not satisfy activists. London, for example, reached its legal air pollution limit just 1 month into 2018. For real progress to be made, governments need to take more drastic action.
In 2016 more than 100 Nobel laureates signed a letter criticising Greenpeace for its campaigns against genetically modified organisms (GMOs), arguing that it was anti-science.