No Art on a Dead Planet: An Analysis of the Visual and Performance Strategies of Environmental Protest Groups in the Midlands

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This proposed research will produce the first sustained analysis of the visual and performance strategiesof contemporary environmental protest groups in the Midlands. It will examine the way in which culturalstrategies of protest in this region negotiate both global and local contexts, in particular local histories ofprotest and uprising. Ultimately, I ask how regional specificity changes our understanding of the stakesand strategies of environmental protest culture in the UK and more broadly across the Global north.A focus on environmental protest is especially timely with the rise of movements such as ExtinctionRebellion (XR). XR consists of 130 groups across the UK (more than 1142 groups globally) with 30 groupsin the Midlands, all run by local people. My analysis of XR's activities will thus take into account bothlocal and global contexts, to explore how these two different geographical contexts are negotiated, andhow protest engages with memory, public space and regional identities. In doing so, I will bring to beartheories of regionalism and transnationalism on environmental protest cultural history. I will explore howcontemporary strategies might reference or harness those of previous generations in a region with richprotest history that is broadly underrepresented in environmental protest research, which tends to focusreductively on capital cities.My research will address the following questions; What are the visual strategies used by environmentalgroups, and how important are they in their overall strategy? To what extent do Midlands protest groupsengage, reflect, or contend with local histories of protest? How do and how have local protest groupsnegotiated the visual rhetoric of global protest movements? What are the limitations of global proteststrategies? This research will provide a fuller understanding of the operation of local and regional identityin a global era.My academic career has well equipped me, with a 1st Class BA (hons) and MA with distinction in ArtHistory. This project uses conceptual tools that I developed a critical engagement with during my Mastersdegree while studying topics such as Visualising Conflict, and Landscape, Space and Place. My proposedsupervisory team includes expertise in art history and visual culture, histories and theories ofregionalism, and critical ecology. Being based in the Department of Cultural, Media and Visual Studieswill enable a productive dialogue with those engaged in theoretical and critical studies of media, thevisual culture of protest, performance and street theatre.