Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp - collective feminine energy and the role of ritual in protest
Concord Media. (2016). Carry Greenham Home. Youtube [online]. Available from: https://youtu.be/C6-IB39b0fc?si=3GTRMNkRZDIEqGQF [accessed 23 Jan 24].
Jo Rowlands. (2013). Reclaim The Night. Youtube [online]. Available from: https://youtu.be/JedwFmwM0-c?si=s0rJgQ2J8hy8GkNo [accessed 23 Jan 24].
Content Warning: the above video contains verbal mention of sexual assault, in the context of song lyrics.
ThamesTV. (2019). Greenham common protest | Peace Camp | Nuclear Disarmament | TV Eye | 1983. Youtube [online]. Available from: https://youtu.be/lwaUh9DS_xM?si=PWE3z7xHw8i4nh6a [accessed 23 Jan 24].
Research on the Greenham common women's peace camp of the 80s, a peaceful protest in response to the storage of US nuclear missiles at Greenham common (UK). During this research I considered how the use of video and recording can be a vessel of evidence, a record that something happened. In the context of protest and fight for social change, this is a relatively new phenomenon; before video and photography we could communicate through time through word of mouth, pictures and later writing. The language of these videos in particular is documentation of the time; ‘unprofessional’ filming techniques without fancy editing, it captures the energy of the event, and it feels almost nostalgic and personal. It feels like this is an alternative documentation to a polished version, this feels unfiltered and therefore feels truthful.
The audio of song communicates the collective spirit of the women who joined together to protest. I am interested in the rituals involved in protest, and how these have lived for so long- singing songs and rhyming chants. Although it is a response of resistance, it feels almost celebratory as well as angry. It made me think of the parallels between this and spells, and the overlooked act of speaking something into existence. In researching contemporary attitudes to witchcraft, I found Earth Spells: Witches of the Anthropocene exhibition at RAMM "Emma Hart's new commission for RAMM, titled Good Vibrations (2023), draws a parallel between the concept of a spell as a series of words spoken to change things, and the speeches given by environmental activists to effect change in the face of the climate crisis – for example, looking to how Greta Thunberg's Skolstrejk för klimatet (School Strike for Climate) protest and subsequent speeches have become a catalyst for change. Hart explains, 'you can't make a promise or a bet without saying 'I promise' or 'I bet'. You need to say a spell to enact it." (Goodband, 2023).
“we are women, we are strong, we say no, to the bomb”
The song in the second video is another protest ballad called Reclaim the Night, which is a movement in response to lack of women’s safety and bodily autonomy, as part of the women’s liberation movement. I am interested in how these women came together at Greenham common in response to the harbouring of nuclear weapons, to fight for peace between nations and survival of the planet, and the intersections that are presented regarding gender equality.
BBC World Service. (2019). The women trying to stop a nuclear war - BBC World Service. Youtube [online]. Available from: https://youtu.be/7SBJ1V5iS_g?si=Xfb8_QVLqtxR6rHR[accessed 23 Jan 24].
In this BBC news segment from 2019 one of the main organisers of the initial march from Cardiff which lead to the peace camp, Ann Pettitt, reflects on the experience and impact of the protest. It is interesting to think how this is presented on national news now, vs how it would have been presented at the time.
The connection between gender equality, earth and peace is powerfully communicated in these videos. In the current political climate, I feel this conversation is extremely relevant, in relation to the bombardment of Gaza by the global (patriarchal) superpowers, ultimately to reap the earth of its resources for economic gain, with no regard or care at all for the human life it destroys. The differing response when the people this affects are people of colour vs when they are white, cannot be overlooked.
References
- Goodband, L. (2023).Earth Spells: Witches of the Anthropocene' at RAMM. ArtUK [online]. 10 February. Available from: https://artuk.org/discover/stories/earth-spells-witches-of-the-anthropocene-at-ramm [accessed 23 Jan 24].
