Spatial Politics in Practice: The Style and Substance of Environmental Direct Action

According to many commentators, Environmental Direct Action (EDA) has become a growing political force in recent years. This paper explores the style and substance of EDA by focusing on one indicative example of EDA activity, the anti-quarry campaign at Ashton Court, Bristol, UK. The paper will argue that EDA is a political practice constituted by an imbroglio of premises, practices, identities, and modes of organisation that in a variety of ways asserts its difference to those of the liberal democratic system. The paper will go on to show that EDA is politically and geographically significant as it has been successful in taking and making space in line with its own cultural values. Through being successful in this way, EDA has entered into a dialogic relationship with the political practices of the State that can offer a useful tracing of how power struggles are played out in material and symbolic space.