Abstract

This article reflects upon a personal experience at Climate Camp during the summer of 2009. The Camp took place in a prior non-disclosed location in London to model a temporary self-sustaining community and was a site at which climate change could be discussed in the run up to the Copenhagen climate change conference in December 2009. The thread that runs throughout the paper questions whether the architecture of the camp expressed the politics of Climate Camp. Climate Camp has been established as an organisation to take direct action on climate change through creating a non-hierarchical, diverse, gender equal and sustainable community. From critiquing my personal experience at the camp I will attempt to conclude whether a temporary camp is a valid option for activists today. There are four voices present throughout the paper – one of ‘action’, observing the events that occurred during the camp, another of ‘information’ that represents the text messages, meeting announcements and placards that were given by the camp, one of ‘reflection’ which looks at the theoretical context of the camp and finally one of ‘drifting’, describing my personal experience in the camp.

How to Cite:

Bax, M., (2009) “The Other Side of the Fence”, field 3(1), 37–48.