How much protest should a democratic state accept?

Roadblocks, sit-ins and attacks on artworks by climate protestors have raised questions about the limits of legitimate action in Switzerland and elsewhere. Judges have not been lenient – should they be? A dozen people recently sat in a room in Zurich, plotting a crime. They would break into a DIY superstore in the early hours to “borrow” some tools, drive to Paradeplatz square – the heart of the Swiss banking industry – smash through the ground with a jackhammer, and plant a tree. Finally, they would greet the arriving employees of the nearby UBS with information leaflets about climate change and the role of finance in causing it. The stunt was ambitious. It also wouldn’t happen. The schemers were curious participants at a “non-violent civil disobedience” workshop, run as part of a September conference by left-wing thinktank Denknetz. The workshop, moderated by an Extinction Rebellion and Debt for Climate activist, aimed to show the considerations that go into planning such an ...