Protests, publics and participation (still in an environmental age)

This chapter considers the old and the new in the environmental protests that now take place every day across many parts of the world. It identifies recognisable practices and patterns: the labels of deviancy, the powerful visuals and symbols that carry across media, the elite interests. And it explores new configurations and practices playing out within and across transnational networks, media platforms and publics. It first outlines an understanding of the relationship between protest, publics and changing media logics and practices, before drawing on continuing research on the four-decades-long conflict over native forest logging in Tasmania, Australia’s southern island state, to illuminate some complex shifts.