Communicating eco-social protest: playful-artistic artefacts in the nonviolent direct actions of the Extinction Rebellion movement Madrid

Abstract

This article examines ten nonviolent direct actions of Extinction Rebellion Madrid (XR Madrid) carried out between 2019 and 2024, analysed under the categories of play proposed by Caillois (1994), with an emphasis on playful-artistic objects and their capacity to subvert symbols of power and generate critical reflection. The central focus is on mimicry as a performative tool in activism, capable of combining artistic aesthetics and political action to defuse adverse responses from the public and the authorities. Through qualitative analysis of visual, symbolic and narrative elements, together with participant observation at protests, it explores how these performances transform protest into aesthetically innovative nonviolent resistance. The hypothesis argues that mimicry not only reduces confrontation and generates empathy, but also exposes the contradictions of the current political-economic system. It concludes that mimicry, integrated with artivism, reimagines protest as a key aesthetic-political act in the face of the climate crisis.