Learning from Greenpeace: Activist Habitus in a Local Struggle

Author(s): Alam, Meredian; Nilan, Pam; Leahy, Terry | Abstract: This paper traces the onto-genesis of a specific environmental campaign in Indonesia. A highly effective struggle to save the local city forest was instigated by young activists in Bandung who had previously been involved with Greenpeace Indonesia. The data comes from interviews, a focus group and ethnographic fieldwork. The paper illustrates the point that when youth get involved in a highly structured environmental protest movement like Greenpeace, the skills, network resources and confidence they gain there can later be deployed to great advantage in a local conservation campaign. That phenomenon can be understood using the notion of radical habitus derived from the theoretical work of Pierre Bourdieu. Keywords: youth, activism, radical habitus, Greenpeace