Alienor Rougeot: Can the anti-apartheid movement teach us how to be better climate justice activists?
Thousands march in the streets of Montreal on Mar. 15, 2019, as part of the Global Climate Strike. Credit: (Goodweek/Google Images)
Written by: Alienor Rougeot, the Fridays for Future Toronto Coordinator
“Young people are capable, when aroused, of bringing down the towers of oppression and raising the banners of freedom.” – Nelson Mandela
In December 2019, I had the honour of being invited to the Mandela Exhibition by the Canadian Museum of Human Rights, in North York. The exhibit was moving and inspiring, yet chilling. But beyond the history that I learnt through artifacts and testimonies; it was the déjà-vu impression that stuck with me for the weeks that followed.
Youth lead marches that revived the movement, oppression of labour, control of the people through land rights debates, international solidarity and divestment calls around the world. The story of apartheid and the anti-apartheid movement has so much in common with the fight of our times for climate justice.
Of course, the deeply racist and colonial component that was at the origin of the apartheid regime in South Africa was more explicit than the one nowadays, but nevertheless the parallels were striking. My goal here is not to compare the two movements fact for fact, nor to pretend that they are the same – indeed, they are fought by very different people and in very different contexts – but to highlight some key similarities. I hope to open up a conversation, especially within the climate movement, to see how we can learn from the anti-apartheid movement.
I will use the chronology of the exhibition to guide you through my thought process. The first steps in the exhibit were a strong reminder that so-called Canada is demonstrating the same colonial practices used over 70 years ago in South Africa. Because colonialism and environmental degradation go hand in hand, the climate movement cannot shy away from a conversation over its means of existence.
Step I: The Passport.
The passport, a symbol of the colonial control over non-white people in South Africa in the second part of the 20th century, was a key artifact of the exhibit. Just like the infamous Indian Status Card Canada still upholds today, this document shocked me as symbolic of the colonial systems we still battle against.
A document produced by a non-legitimate state (from the point of view of indigenous and local communities) ruled the rights of the people, in particular their right to access certain spaces, right to be somewhat safe (relative to non-passport holders, that is) and right to access certain services.
Step II: The Land.
Once past the passport, maps portraying the careful control of the land exerted by South Africa’s colonial government occupy the walls of the gallery. “Reserves”, arbitrary frontiers and zones restricted to “whites” were commonly marked on the maps.
The control of people through what I call “space politics” still happens today: sites not accessible to all, folks living away from city centers and therefore being forgotten by movements, reserves that ask of indigenous people to choose between their community and chances of economic prosperity… The control of land and space in South Africa was a powerful way to prevent collaboration and collective action of the oppressed. Our present day movements must keep in mind these implicit and explicit barriers and fight against them.
Step III: Labour.
Apartheid was about racism. But it was also about profit. The control of labour, through the infamous passport, was a strong component of the Apartheid regime. Cheap labour was needed, making labour both a means and an end of the colonial system. The control of labour was exercised through the passport because only those working, and getting monthly stamps by their employers, were given the passport. Moreover, this system was put in place to ensure no labour uprising would take place since it was a “privilege” to have work, given its direct link to having an identity.
What’s the link with the climate movement? It’s the logic of profit before our shared humanity, where extractive projects or weak regulations are justified by the phrase “economic development”, is undeniably central to the climate crisis. The use of violence and state sanctioned arrests on behalf of private interests are a shared feature of the two movements. The difficulty for labour to engage in “climate strikes”, especially for workers of carbon intensive economies, because of the financial realities for their families resemble the struggles of anti-apartheid workers who risked their jobs – and eventually their lives – when striking in South Africa.
Just like the anti-apartheid movement had to work in close and constant collaboration with labour unions, the youth climate movement must remember the power that the current system holds over non-students through labour. We must take into account these realities, especially those of us from privileged backgrounds.
These statements are not ground-breaking: the climate movement has already recognized the need for alliances with the labour movement long ago. Yet, the anti-apartheid movement demonstrates the absolute necessity to do so. The coming together of the youth and labour is what permitted to tip the balance in favour of the people in South-Africa - a hopeful fact for those involved in the fight against unregulated capitalism and extractive colonialism.
Step IV: Demands.
One artifact is still vivid in my mind: the list of demands of the anti-apartheid movement, which was titled the Charter of Freedom. And if you think our current demands are radical, think again. “The people shall govern”, “the doors of culture and learning shall be opened”, “there shall be work and security”, “the land shall be shared among those who work it”. Sounds familiar?
For decades people have been asking the same thing, and if one lesson must be learnt from this artefact it is the following. The demands of the youth climate movement are not new, nor void of context. What is new is who is asking it: no longer are these demands only from the poor, the oppressed, the silenced. Because the climate crisis challenged, maybe for the first time, the comfort of the middle class, and especially the white middle class, demands for justice are being framed as “new”.
I point that out to allow the youth climate movement to feel empowered, because those demands resonate with many and clearly have grounding, but also to feel humbled and grateful for the generations that did the groundwork before us.
Credit: (Ecosia/Google Images)
Step V: The youth.
This step could have a whole book of its own. The labour movement was central to the fight back against the apartheid regime. Yet, when the youth, and especially organized students, joined the fight, the movement took a turn that would lead it to its victory. The exhibit makes it clear: it is through strikes, marches, coalitions and ongoing pressure that progress was made. And this one is a lesson for our critics:
To those who ask that we use the means within the system, wait for our turn to vote and politely ask for tiny changes. When profit and power are at stake, “a conversation” just won’t cut it.
Step VI: International solidarity and call to divest.
I am a student at the University of Toronto, a school still happily invested in fossil fuel. According to one of their Board members, it gives them leverage to make “bad companies” become “good”. They also argue that the amounts they actually invest in fossil fuel are ludicrous. What has that “leverage” done for us in the last 20 years? 40 years? What justifies even the tiniest investment in companies that repeatedly lie to us and place profit over people?
In the later stages of the anti-apartheid movement, an international movement of solidarity was launched. No matter the degree of investment you had in the regime, it was both an economic and a moral argument that was put forward: people did not want their institutions anywhere close to the racist oppressive system. Similarly, as I am writing this, students from most universities around the world are calling on their institutions to divest, alongside teachers calling on their pension plans, and citizens calling on their commercial banks to do the same.
I asked the member of the board: “would you justify even having one penny in the apartheid movement?”. No matter the scale of your investments, leading institutions must show the world the way. And to those who will argue, “we can’t just go off fossil fuels overnight”, let us be clear: that is not what is happening. What is happening is we are refusing to rely on the polluters to fix climate change, and we are signaling that through divestment.
Whether these similarities intrigue, paralyze or motivate you, what lies ahead may depend on how we learn from our past. The anti-apartheid movement had, in particular, to face severe repression, criminalization of activists and violence. Entire campaigns of assassination against activists were led by a secret police. Given the invasion of Wet’suwet’en by the RCMP in so-called Canada, the repeated murders of land defenders around the world, and the continued reality of police brutality for indigenous peoples and people of colour, the climate movement will likely face the same violent opposition. What are we to learn, then, if anything?
I lack an answer on how to prepare for the worst. But as a white cis woman in downtown Toronto, I want to offer a tiny step towards getting ready: believe those who tell you they are being targeted, amplify their voices, put your body in front of theirs because your privilege shields you, and raise hell for every injustice along the way.
The anti-apartheid movement also was severely criticized for some compromises it had to make. Should we conclude not to make any? The exhibit made it clear: it was a negotiated revolution. But is that what we want? Can we even afford negotiations, given the gravity of the situation and the deep roots of the crisis? Only one thing is certain to me at this point in time:
If we are to make compromises, we must not allow ourselves to compromise the rights of those who have been sacrificed countless number of times in the past.
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