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Article: PETROL PROTEST -- CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE OR SELF-INTEREST?
- Article from:
- Contemporary Review
- Article date:
- April 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Contemporary Review Company Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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ACCORDING to many of its supporters, the petrol protest which took place during the Autumn of 2000 was an example of grass roots democracy in action; an act of civil disobedience designed to force an out of touch government to take notice of the legitimate concerns of a significant section of the electorate (see Contemporary Review, November 2000 and February 2001). To others the protest appeared to be merely an outbreak of lawlessness reminiscent of the miners' disputes of 1972, 1973-74 and 1984-85 or the 'winter of discontent' of 1978-79; a simple issue of law and order. By organising what was termed a second 'Jarrow Crusade', a cavalcade of lorries from Tyneside to ...