The Activist's Strategic Toolkit : A study of environmental protesters’ responses to repressive state tactics in the Philippines

Abstract: The studies on state repression on dissidents has for long puzzled researches with macro-level studies often reaching contradictory results. To that end, the following thesis aims to explore the micro-level effects of state repression on protesters strategies as a case-study on the Philippines, which was the deadliest country for environmental activists in 2018. This is a small n (n=5) study on environmental activists’ strategic responses to different types of repression, thus attempting to answer the question of how experiences of repression affect environmental activists’ strategic choices. Environmental activism is here applied broadly, covering two sectors which are both concerned with threats to the environment and its public health consequences. The study finds that social networks constitutes a fundamental resource for the strategical adaptations of the environmental activists.