The Effects of Criminalisation on Activists: The Case of the NoTAP Environmental Movement

Does criminalisation have “chilling effects” on activists? If so, which are the criminalisation phases or strategies that discourage activists to act freely and in exercise of their human rights? This article investigates the chilling effects of criminalisation beyond the phases or strategies of police repression, labelling/stigmatisation, and surveillance, which have been addressed in the relevant multi-disciplinary literature thus far. Using the case study of the criminalised NoTAP environmental movement opposing a pipeline megaproject in the Italian southeastern Puglia region, this article shows the importance of investigating chilling effects on activists who have had experiences with the criminal justice system and with punitive measures outside the criminal law, such as administrative fines. It ends with an invitation for activist criminologists to contribute more substantially to this area of research, and to support activists throughout the “criminalisation cycle” - and through the most daunting phases of criminalisation, in particular.