Blockadia By Klein Analysis

I thought “Blockadia” to be one of the most well-written pieces we looked at in class, and certainly one of the most topical. Discussing the ecological and environmental crises of several different countries, each with their own distinct approach to their relationship with nature, and drawing them all together by identifying the common goal of protests in these respective countries is an overarching challenge that the author, Naomi Klein, tackled tactfully with deep understanding, including in her writing the valuable persuasive arguments of the many experiences of those living directly affected by the environmental crises.

Her writing style is also a nice blend of storytelling and factual narrative, so it is both informative and emotionally

charged, which drew me in easily. The value of this writing is getting the reader to be on your side while you make your point, so they come out not only with a new or changed opinion, but with one that is attached to the emotions felt while reading, further cementing the opinion. She does this particularly well by drawing comparison between the “shockingly militarized” police force at these environmental protests with the “pastoral environments” in which they take place (298). She conjures up images of war, vividly describing the violence of the state’s response in juxtaposition with the people protesting, most of whom are likely relatively poor and otherwise not necessarily “political” or regular activists. This normalization of protestors, by removing them from the politics of the preconceived image of a career activist, helps to humanize them and helps the reader to resonate with and sympathize with their fight against the overbearing and authoritarian state/corporations.
This is especially important given the politicization of environmental activists and the demonization of protestors as “violent.” As is clearly evident in our own country, as well as other nominally “democratic” states, like Klein’s examples of Canada and the U.K., our approach to protestors is not to sympathize with them nor understand their cause, but to admonish them as troublemakers and people with too much time on their hands – both of which are absolutely terrifying responses from fellow citizens of “democratic” states who seem to have lost their knowledge of the foundation of democracy. This piece, then, serves as an important guide to the basics of environmentalist concerns and protest, which are almost always nonviolent and have goals of social justice (for everyone!) at hand, and puts them in context with the militarized response of the state, which has the interests of corporations at hand.
Most importantly, Klein repeatedly emphasizes the universality of these environmentalist protests, underscoring the unity that Westerners should feel with people in remote geographical areas who are experiencing the same environmental abuse and are protesting just as people in Canada, the U.S., and other Western states are. She says the protesters “increasingly see themselves as part of a global movement” (p. 303), who have identified themselves in opposition to an enemy common to everyone. This removes the barrier of cultural or ideological differences between distinct people, and rather encourages them to recognize each other as allies in the fight against the “enemy,” thereby strengthening the movement as a whole.
In all, “Blockadia” is a very well-written, emotionally charged piece that brings both domestic and international environmental crises to the reader’s attention, and forces them to reconcile whatever preconceived ideas they have about these crises with the plight of the protestors and the realities of the crises as lived by people directly affected by them – removing any abstractness or indifference. While she incorporates heavily real-life experiences and anecdotes, she intertwines them with factual evaluations – making for a solidly compelling piece that holds up to severe critical scrutiny and analysis.