"Direct action" type protests - worth it or not?

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Today in UK we've had some people who don't like runways sat on the roof of the Palace of Westmister, at the same time there was a large legal protest in favour of a referendum on the EU constitution/treaty. Predictably the former got far more publicity in the media and the latter got very little coverage. However, the latter are all back home by now and the former are in custody.

Clearly if you want to get publicity illegal protest stunts do work better in the short term, but do they actually achieve anything in terms of their stated goals?

Does anyone know of any direct action type movement that actually got the changes they wanted?

I can't think of any myself.

It depends on how you view it.

You could argue that direct action has eventually led to something by raising awareness of the subject - such as the equal rights/anti slavery/anti-apartheid movements, or the sufraggettes getting the vote for women in the UK.

Direct and violent protests achieve nothing initially, because they tend to stiffen the authorities resolve against the protest.

I'll be interested to see other peoples responses though. Great subject



[edit on 28/0208/08 by neformore]

One day has about fifteen waking hours.

I want to use my time wisely. So am I going to go vandalize and spraypaint a house I oppose or start laying the bricks for the house I like?