Climate Dissensus and Civil Disobedience: Roundtable discussion about Legality, Justification, and Legitimacy

In an era marked by escalating climate crises and polarized public discourse, acts of unlawful activism that protesters defend as necessary acts of civil disobedience have become a regularly deployed but controversial form of engagement within democracies in Europe. This roundtable brings together an activist, a legal practitioner, a philosopher, and a legal scholar to explore the complex interplay between law, moral justification, and democratic legitimacy in the context of climate dissent.

• How should we understand the role of civil disobedience when conventional political channels appear inadequate or unresponsive?
• What are the legal and ethical boundaries of protest in democratic societies?
• And how do courts and institutions respond to, or reshape, these acts of resistance?

Join us for a critical conversation at the intersection of law, justice, and climate activism. We warmly invite everyone to this discussion, explicitly not only those, who believe that unlawful protests are a legitimate form of engagement in a democracy but also those that reject this form of engagement.

Speakers:

Willem Jebbink, an experienced lawyer representing (climate) activists before court.

Jelle de Graaf, an activist who has engaged in lawful but also unlawful activism and has recently published a book on his motivations.

Colin Hickey, philosopher, and Jerfi Uzman, professor of public law, who have both engaged with civil disobedience in their work.

Moderator: Rena Hänel, PhD, European Studies

Co-organised by the Strategic Climate Litigation project, Amsterdam Centre for European Studies and RED-SPINEL.