Linda Williams co-authored a chapter called ‘Extinction Rebellion and Non-violent Civil Disobedience’ for the book The Routledge Handbook of Grassroots Climate Activism.
You can see it online here.
Here is its’ abstract:
This chapter explores Extinction Rebellion (XR) in its historical context: from its emergence in Britain, to a global climate movement with viable connections to earlier successful grassroots movements in civil disobedience. Drawing on media analysis we consider some of the ways that the flaws and critiques of XR’s activism, from disruptions to urban infrastructure to less mediagenic yet more publicly engaging appeal to mass civil disobedience, have been framed in the popular imaginary. XR members have been labelled as ‘extremist’ and ‘eco-terrorists’. Yet this practice of discrediting XR can be understood as a form of ‘othering’ aimed at portraying climate activists as anarchists who resist democratic process and reject social values. In response, XR supporters counter that such accusations are overstated and meant to undermine the movement, asserting that an apocalyptic tone and non-violent disruptive civic action is justified, given the severity of the climate crisis. XR’s mission based on the identification of mass grassroots non-violent civil disobedience as the essential factor of social transformation is insightful, and, in our view, the key to its continued success.