By, Luke Buckland, Second Year, Politics and International Relations
While Bristol’s student activists undoubtedly draw inspiration from past movements, their actions today represent a bold and evolving form of protest. Historically, students have been uniquely positioned to create dynamic activist communities that spotlight and challenge overlooked issues - and that tradition continues in new and inventive ways.
The myriad of tents pitched at Royal Fort Gardens by BristolOccupy4Palestine evokes strong parallels to the Occupy Bristol movement in 2011 who camped on College Green to raise awareness for their cause. However, this new wave of activism has gone beyond merely mirroring the acts of its predecessor. Unlike the 2011 occupation, BristolOccupy4Palestine has employed a diverse range of activist strategies and articulated clear and targeted demands. Along the way, they built a community and opened lines of dialogue with the University and other protest groups.
Causing disruption is another great way to get people to pay attention. As a byproduct of their march through the city centre, students protesting a rise in tuition fees to £9,000 a year blocked the M32 for several hours in 2010. Eight years later, the Extinction Rebellion protests purposefully caused a blockage of the M32 into Bristol for most of two days with a pink bathtub. Though the demands of both groups were ignored by the government, both protests gained local and national notoriety.
Echoing their predecessors, Occupy Bristol in 2011 used similar obstructive tactics by setting up tents and wood houses on College Green. Their protest for economic fairness following the 2008 financial crisis used disruption as a tool to force the public and those in power to pay attention to their cause. The student-led BristolOccupy4Palestine movement is no different, following in the disruptive approach laid out by activist groups in Bristol before them. In protest against the University of Bristol’s stance on the war in Gaza, they also used camping as a protest strategy: in the Victoria Rooms, inside the University management office, and at Royal Fort Gardens in 2024 and 2025.
Similarly to how Occupy Bristol 2011 followed the Occupy movements on Wall Street, inspiration for BristolOccupy4Palestine also came from abroad. A spokesperson explained how the organisation had lots of help from student protestors in American and Canadian universities: ‘they were really helpful […] sent us everything they had’ - highlighting how collaboration and utilising their activist community was crucial to this student movement.
In conversation with Epigram, Skye from BristolOccupy4Palestine highlighted that disruption was ‘really important,’ explaining that this was because ‘the uni is only really going to care if it hits them financially.’ For them, visibility also played a crucial role, ‘because it attacks their reputation.’ By generating publicity and causing disruption, Bristolian student activists have strategically targeted institutions where it hurts most - financially and reputationally.
Of course, generating publicity and causing disruption are not the only tactics that activists use to achieve their causes - nor are they mutually exclusive. The Bristol Bus Boycott in 1963, a protest galvanised by the West Indian Development Council, used both publicity and disruption to end segregation in employment and empower minority ethnic Bristolians. In a press conference, the Council emulated the iconic image of Rosa Parks at the back of the bus. Like the toppling of the Colston statue in 2020, using symbolic imagery was crucial to gaining media attention. Some Bristolian students were involved in the non-violent strategy that included picketing, blockades, and sit-down protests to cause disruption to the Bristol Omnibus Company.
The eventual removal of the policy showed that combining a number of activist strategies in an innovative manner is helpful in achieving the aims of protestors, something that Bristol students have also adopted. For example, University of Bristol students were some of the first to use rent strikes against paying for accommodation during the COVID-19 lockdown.
In a similar vein, BristolOccupy4Palestine’s approach to activism was innovative and went far beyond just encampment as a protest strategy. For instance, they were the first movement to call for a boycott of a University attendance app in 2024 (reported from interview), and now ‘six or seven unis…are also starting to call a boycott.’
These bold, first-mover initiatives highlight the power of being early and decisive in pushing for change. The People and Planet Society demonstrated this with their Fossil Free Careers Campaign, using student union politics to successfully lobby for action. In 2021, their efforts led the Bristol SU to become the first Students’ Union in the UK to officially boycott oil, gas, and mining industries.
Since then, the Earth Justice Society has been at the helm of protesting the University’s promotion of fossil-fuel-related careers for students. You may have seen their members holding banners outside the Wills Building on graduation this year. On face, it is a familiar protest strategy, but a huge advantage that student protest groups have over others is the ability to build a community from scratch. Speaking about the aims of their society, Trixie Panatti-Reeve, the Campaigns Coordinator, highlighted the importance of ‘building a community because it is really empowering to be surrounded by like-minded people.’
As important as creating the banners to hold on the day was, it was also important to prep ‘what to say to people […] how to have that productive conversation when you do get to the protest’, explained Imogen Suett, the Secretary of Earth Justice Society. When they protested outside the Careers Fair at Bristol Beacon in 2024 a huge focus was suggesting alternative environmentally conscious careers so people might ‘reflect about the values of the companies I’m engaging with.’
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So building strong communities and presenting positive alternatives can be just as important as causing disruption and generating publicity in protest. Perhaps it is then unsurprising that both the Earth Justice Society and BristolOccupy4Palestine’s movements collided. The Earth Justice society were there to show solidarity at a Palestine Fundraiser in 2024, and before their protest at graduation did a speech at the Palestine Solidarity Rally in 2025 (reported from interview). Their shared emphasis on collaboration and community-building meant both group’s movements spread beyond their initial aims and brought together a community of activists.
Student activists like the Earth Justice Society and BristolOccupy4Palestine have a unique opportunity to cause positive change. As influential as the vibrant historical and geographical activist community of Bristol is, equally as important are the communities that students continue to create. They have built upon traditional activist approaches like generating publicity and causing disruption, while also creating innovative activist approaches to protest against significant wrongs. In a world that is now growing more politically polarised and increasingly pessimistic, the ability of students to build strong communities and spread positivity will be all the more important.
Featured Image: Alex Radelich / Unsplash
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