Direct Action Tips
by Root Force
Direct action just means doing something to directly resolve a problem, rather than petitioning someone else to do it for you (such as by voting or letter writing). It is only one of the many approaches available for getting results; in fact, a mix of direct and indirect approaches is often most effective. While frequently associated with civil disobedience, direct action is not necessarily illegal.
Some actions can be either direct or indirect, depending on how they are applied. A single letter to a construction company asking it to pull out of a destructive project is good, but what about that same letter faxed over and over until the company runs out of toner?
No matter what approach you decide on, it can’t be denied: Direct action gets the goods!
Direct Action Tips
No one can tell you what action to take, because only you and your affinity group know what your skills, interests, and unique advantages are. But when planning direct actions, here are a few things to consider:
Get Creative: Public protests and classic direct-action tactics like blockades are great, but there’s a lot more that can be done. Remember that at the other end of every direct action is a person whose ways you want to change. What is the best way to reach them? It might be simply to cost them money, along with a witty or militant message making it clear why the action has been taken. It might be more psychological: activists have visited the bad guys at home or at church; handed out wanted posters to their neighbors; shut off their water and sealed the valve with concrete — the possibilities are endless! In one particularly creative action, animal rights activists called a mortuary to say that a vivisector they were protesting had died. When that vivisector answered her door the next day, she was shocked to find a coffin with her name on it!
Pick Non-Obvious Targets: The more unexpected an action is, the greater its impact. This can mean protesting at a CEO’s home instead of their office, or at a company’s branch office instead of its headquarters — but it can also mean picking more unorthodox targets entirely.
It can be effective and psychologically potent to adopt a philosophy that all collaborators will be held accountable — such as by protesting anyone that enables the destruction you are fighting, even if they appear to have an insignificant role.
A number of campaigns have had great success with what is called “secondary targeting.” While primary targeting goes after the people or companies involved in the activity you wish to stop, secondary targeting goes after the people or companies that are doing business with them. The idea is that by depriving a company of the other companies that it needs to do business, a greater impact can be created. Secondary targets can include investors, construction companies, public relations firms, companies with the same owner, even catering or office supply firms.
This is a strategy that has worked particularly well for the anti-vivisection movement, the anti-apartheid movement, ACT UP, and others. Vivisectors have even been banned from their favorite bars or golf clubs after those businesses were protested!
Avoid State Repression: Don’t make the mistake of thinking that direct action = arrest. We encourage you to avoid getting trapped in the legal system if at all possible — she who fights and runs away lives to fight another day! If you really enjoy civil disobedience, then have at it. But if that’s not your thing, remember that there are often many ways to achieve the same thing without getting nabbed. Maybe instead of taking over someone’s office, you could do a lightning raid—charge inside wearing masks, unplug the maze of wires behind every computer, then scatter!
In recent years, some outrageous jail sentences have been handed down for many politically motivated acts. While this doesn’t mean that every sit-in is going to lead to terrorism indictments, it does make it more important than ever that people know the potential consequences of any action that they engage in. Before doing any direct action, seriously consider whether you are willing to face prison time rather than testify against a comrade. If the answer is no, stick to legal actions! It is far more honorable to respect your own skills and comfort level than to get in over your head and then mess things up for others. Besides, lots of very effective tactics are legal.
Consult our Security Culture page for more information and further reading.
Use the Media, Don’t Get Used: Be sure to make the link between your action and the project being targeted (e.g., I-69). This is especially important for covert actions where you have no direct contact with the media or those targeted. Depending on your strategy, it may be unnecessary (and may bring more law enforcement pressure) to claim that you took an action to bring down the system. On the other hand, if you are trying to build an above-ground anti-infrastructure movement, maybe that’s just the message you need!
Be smart with your communiqués and press releases; make sure that communiqués about covert actions are sent untraceably.
For more tips on dealing with the media, see our Media Resources page.
Let Us Know: We encourage everyone to send a short summary of their actions to us so that we can post it on this site as a source of ideas, inspiration and amusement for others!