46 although Maro Itoje, the England rugby lock forward, and Raheem Sterling, the England football winger, have both been outspoken in discussing subtle racism in media coverage of sport. Racism, thankfully, is an issue that has always seen a strong player-led response, from the D’Oliveira affair prompting Apartheid South Africa’s exclusion from international sport to the recent UEFA EURO 2020 qualifier match between England and Bulgaria in Sofia on October 14th. In a widely lauded action, England Men’s football team finished the game in the face of appalling racial abuse from Bulgarian fans. The players unanimously deciding to remain on the pitch, even though they had been given the option of walking off. Bulgaria had already been hit with seat restrictions in punishment for previous incidents of racial abuse from fans, and this further occurrence warranted a two-match stadium ban and €75,000 fine from UEFA, the European football governing authority. The great and the good of the English game, including players such as Sterling who had played the match, were unanimous in their condemnation of the abuse. The answer to why English teams and individual sportspeople don’t tend to be overly politically involved is probably found in the mundane cocktail of contractual terms and protection of financial interests, general apathy and contentment with position, and strong boards more than capable of taking on all but the strongest episodes of industrial action. However, as the inherent power of the platform given to players participating in top-level sport grows, English sportspeople may shake themselves from their stupor of political inactivity and join the party.
KCL Politics Society
The Problematic Structure of Extinction Rebellion By Radeyah Ullah October 2019 saw the usually bustling City of London come to a standstill. For two weeks Extinction Rebellion protests engulfed the nation’s capital. However, the occupation of the city harvested hostility rather than the change the movement set out for. The ‘International Rebellion’ of nonviolent civil disobedience resulted in public turmoil, leaving Londoners, as well as many others, plagued with ill feelings towards the movement and the fight against climate change. Established in October 2018, and starting out with only 1500 protestors, Extinction Rebellion soon rapidly grew beyond London. With its first major protest in April 2019, the movement was then responsible for more action being taken across other cities such as Bristol, Manchester, and Leeds to name a few. Extinction Rebellion has only three aims: have the government declare there is a climate emergency, for Britain to be zero carbon by 2025, and the implementation of a citizens’ assembly to work towards these problems. The last of these demands is now coming into fruition, demonstrating the traction that Extinction Rebellion has gained and the potential it has to implement change. Despite its rapid growth, the rising prominence of Extinction Rebellion has been far from perfect. The
movement is largely criticized for having unachievable aims, most notably with zero carbon being deemed more achievable by 2050. However, attention has now turned towards Extinction Rebellion’s structure and principles. The movement is guided by 10 principles, with its final principle currently dampening its status as a respectable movement: ‘we are based on autonomy and selfprinciple […] Anyone who follows these core principles and values can take action in the name of Extinction Rebellion’. This has been seen to come into practice in recent protests but has been identified as a potential risk to gaining widespread support. The view of Extinction Rebellion is rather utopian, overlooking the dangers of similar structure that has damaged other protest movements in the past. Instead, they pride themselves on a structure that encapsulates full transparency, allowing others to even read their constitution claiming they work towards being an inclusive movement. The inner workings and the structure of the Extinction Rebellion relies heavily on ‘circles’ with transparency in order to ensure that no individual attempts to seize power.
