Autobahn blockades in Berlin: "A boring Latsch demo will hardly be taken up"

Mr. Sommer, climate activists in Berlin are currently making the headlines with the blockade of a motorway: They are calling for a law against food waste and an agricultural turnaround.

So far, they have primarily drawn the anger of many motorists.

Is it even useful to annoy people in order to draw their attention to more or less legitimate concerns?

Julia Anton

Editor in the society department at FAZ.NET

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That depends on the goal of the protest.

The climate activists in Berlin probably agree that they do not arouse sympathy from those who are on their way to work.

It is about setting a sign for the worsening of the climate crisis.

The form of protest illustrates the urgency and desperation of those who will later be affected by the consequences of the crisis.

This blockade therefore appears to them as a last resort to make themselves heard.

But of course: This is not necessarily conducive to popular sympathy.

So angry reactions are priced in?

The reaction to blockages has different dimensions.

Especially in the case of the Berlin autobahn blockades, public perception of the protest goal seems to be neglected.

It is not clear how the blockade of the highway is related to our diet in terms of content.

If you occupy the Autobahn because you are demanding a turnaround in traffic, the situation looks very different - the connection between protest form and content is obvious and understandable.

Or when you occupy food companies that produce under particularly poor conditions when it comes to nutrition.

In the eyes of the population, this appears more legitimate.

How important is public support?

There are different strategies of protest.

We can see that very well in the large and heterogeneous climate movement in this country.

With Fridays for Future, we have a movement that aims to reach the broader population.

With success: you have brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets – not only children and young people, but also adults.

This is part of the broad movement that wants to achieve a rethink in the general population in order to indirectly influence politics.

And the other part?

He says: Not enough happens to us via this indirect route.

For this perspective, the support of the population is less important.

They try to exert direct pressure, whether on food production or the politicians that set guidelines for it.

Then there is the perception that you don't necessarily need sympathy for this, but primarily attention.

And that is generated by the images that this form of protest creates.

But that's exactly what didn't work out: Instead of the demand, a discussion about civil disobedience broke out.

On the one hand, this leads us back to the fact that the connection between the type and content of the blockade is not entirely clear.

On the other hand, it is also due to the fact that relatively few people are involved in the blockades, only a few dozen.

Only a larger mass gives legitimacy to blockades.

Both of these mean that the demands of the climate activists are hardly being talked about at the moment - and the primary goal of the Protestants, to bring the substantive concerns to the fore, was missed.

Incidents in particular, such as an ambulance not getting through or a pregnant woman having to be picked up by the police with flashing blue lights, lead to the risks of this form of protest being brought to the fore instead of the content.

What influence does the choice of protest form have on the success of movements?

Different protest movements have different definitions of success - so for them a central question of strategy is which form of protest is particularly beneficial to their goal.

At Fridays For Future, for example, the Friday demonstrations made sense on the one hand to generate media attention, but also to strengthen the identity of the movement, mobilize supporters and generate new ones.

So the focus is not always on enforcing the claim?

Exactly, strengthening the inner workings of the movement can also be a goal of protest.

The form of protest is also essential if a movement wants to attract media attention.

A boring tramping demonstration will hardly be picked up - in contrast to insanely large events, such as the Fukushima demonstrations, or when children and young people demonstrate and creative cardboard signs are held up like at Fridays for Future, or when celebrities are involved.

From the point of view of the movements, such forms of protest are therefore always preferable to those that are perceived as boring.

Moritz Sommer is a political sociologist at the German Center for Integration and Migration Research and board member of the Institute for Protest and Movement Research.