“If You Obey All the Rules You Miss All the Fun”: Climate Change Litigation, Climate Change Activism and Lawfulness

The author considers the transformative possibilities inherent in climate change litigation and climate change direct action. The author also reflects on what these different forms of cultural performance reveal about the role and significance of lawfulness in the context of climate change. Some climate change litigation challenges accepted norms and assumptions. Its transformative potential lies, the author argues, in the symbolic value of such litigation and the resulting rhetorical debates about the meaning of legal and cultural terms. Climate change direct action and related courtroom performances provide, on the other hand, a forum in which the norm of lawfulness can be contested and debated.