9.03.2010
Corporate sleaze-merchants trying to recruit graduates in Oxford got another rough ride at the hands of local activists.
This evening, at the University’s Ashmolean museum, the oil multinational Shell attempted to hold a talk on ‘The Challenges of the Future’ and how bright young graduates can help. We had other ideas…
Despite noticeably increased security (police, museum security, Shell staff and even the head of University security), a mixture of blatant blaggery and student infiltration got most of us inside. As usual, we had our own alternative presentation ready, but when they suggested that it would be accommodated at the *end* of the event it was clear we were being fobbed off. So the heckles and awkward questions started.
As more and more of the troublemakers dropped their incognito cover to lambast, interrogate or politely-but-pointedly-query the presenters, it became clear that at least a quarter of the relatively small audience were involved. A wonderful moment came when those of us who already knew each other were pleasantly surprised to discover more undercover allies who we didn’t know, intervening at the perfect moment with a human rights report on Shell’s crimes in the Niger delta.
Eventually many of the ‘genuine’ audience members just got up and left, despite the event not being over… until we were left with pretty much just us, Shell, and security. At which point we got to tell them they could expect resistance everywhere, and that their company would ultimately be shut down whether they liked it or not, and left.
Favourite anecdote of the night: the door security guy who, on hearing my name wasn’t on the list and I didn’t have ID, told me to go and ask his superior if it was OK. I went off in the direction indicated, asked the cops the time to pass a moment or two, and then went back and:
‘She said it’s fine’
‘OK, in you go then’…! 🙂