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Sketching the Demonstration: Drawing is Understanding

I stayed at the University of Vienna as a visiting researcher from 2019 to 2020. At that time, “Fridays for Future”—a transnational social movement raising the issue of climate change—was holding demonstrations every Friday in Vienna. As a social movement researcher, I was interested in the demonstration and conducted participant observation at these events. However, I faced major difficulties, because I could not speak German. Therefore, I had to develop research methods that are not based on language.

When a demonstration appears on the news or is shared via social media, what aspects do you usually pay attention to? Do you read the text on the placards? Or do you listen to the slogans shouted by the crowd? I could not understand the meaning of such texts or slogans during my research. Rather, I tried to focus on the form, material, and participants’ gestures during the demonstrations, and I decided to take photos of the demonstrations and to try sketching them.

Joining the Demonstrations

Figure 1: Protest banners; created by author.

Protest banners and placards were the most common items seen at the Fridays for Future demonstrations. Banners were mostly long and narrow, usually made of fabric and often held by several participants. In contrast, placards or signs—a card sometimes with a stick attached—were held by a single person and were generally made of cardboard.

Both banners and placards certainly have an impact on the people watching the demonstration, but for my analysis I am mainly interested in another function of banners. When I joined a demonstration, I was often told by other participants: “If you’ve got nothing else to do, hold this one,” and I ended up holding a banner with others. Although it was difficult to walk while holding the banner with participants whom I did not know, it simultaneously was an opportunity for fostering a sense of solidarity. This experience made me feel as though I was “taking part with everyone else”. In that sense, banners have the ability to create a collective identity among the participants.

Banners also might initiate comical episodes. During one occasion, some people were carrying a long banner stretched from one set of traffic lights to the next. Perhaps because of the great wind blowing on that day, they were being carried by the wind with the logo-written side of the banner facing upwards. They appeared to be carrying a long, narrow trampoline or kite. Such unpredictable incidents or funny episodes can be seen as a memorable experience that might further strengthen the bond between the participants involved.

Moreover, banners incorporate another feature of social movements and demonstrations: the strengthening of the network and the connection between participants through diffusion and imitation. Once a particular type of banner had first appeared, others would create similar logos in the following demonstrations. From what I have observed so far, the banner reading “Parents for Future” was present during summer demonstrations. As the demonstrations continued, other banners also started appearing in the fall, such as “Babies for Future” and “Religions for Future”. This evolution might be a key feature of the tools used in social movements.

What’s more, a banner demonstrates that it has multiple purposes: Sometimes I realized that the banner was tied to trees or lampposts to mark meeting points for demonstrations (see Figure 1). I’m not sure whether the banners were designed with these various purposes in mind from the beginning or if additional features were added as the demonstrations progressed. Nevertheless, it was interesting to witness the evolution of the usage of such tools.

The Repertoire of Social Movements

Figure 2: The clothing of the protesters; created by author.

The clothes participants wore also visually conveyed the message of the demonstration. At the Fridays for Futures demonstrations, many participants wore the color green. Interestingly, I saw that sometimes even the lead around the dog’s neck was green. However, you do not need to be worried if you did not have green clothes – People made badges with the logo “Fridays for Future” and distributed them, so that they could be easily attached to clothes. Some participants wore “Pussy Hats” (a symbol of protest against sexism in the feminist movement) and the Fridays for Future badge jointly. In general, clothing is a remarkable medium. It can make a statement on a whole range of political issues simply by wearing it.

As the demonstrations continued week after week, more and more young people could be seen wearing matching uniforms. As displayed in the bottom right of Figure 2, some people were dressed in outfits modelled after sanitation workers’ uniforms and were picking up litter while walking. Another unique feature of Fridays for Future was the sight of people walking around in white lab coats.

But what is the reason behind the white lab coats? I think that the major factor is the stance taken by Greta Thunberg, one well-known spokesperson of Fridays for Future. In 2019, she argued for the importance of scientific evidence of climate change. The white coat may have been adopted out of respect for academic knowledge among those taking part in demonstrations. Moreover, at the demonstrations in Vienna, the participants raised a placard displaying a graph showing climate change over the past 100 years and pulled a small wagon with magazines (see Figure 3). These magazines contained printed academic journal articles related to climate change. Participants distributed these papers to those interested as a means of engaging with them.

Figure 3: White lab coats, graph placards and journal article wagon; created by author.

In social movements, the methods that activists select and employ to achieve their objectives are referred to as “repertoire”1. Demonstrations may be chosen as a method suited for raising public awareness and drawing attention to issues. The design of placards and wearing specific clothing during demonstrations can also be considered part of this repertoire. The color green and illustrations of the Earth convey the importance of environmental protection, whilst the distribution of academic papers illustrates a stance that respects scientific knowledge.

Furthermore, the repertoire serves not only to raise external awareness but also to foster a sense of solidarity among participants. Social movements cannot continue without networks and connections between people; it is entirely reasonable to consider solidarity itself as one of the objectives. To keep a connection and share the sense of solidarity, holding a banner with other persons and wearing the same clothing and badges are important parts of the repertoire.

Looking Behind the Scenes

Figure 4: Behind the placard; created by author.

After nearly a year of accumulating sketches of demonstrations like the ones presented here, I gradually became interested in the “behind-the-scenes” aspects of demonstrations that one hardly ever sees.

Some objects were simply drawings on cardboard boxes that had once contained fruit or something similar, while others were made by attaching stiff paper to the handles of a bamboo pole or shovel. Moreover, other participants made the cardboard from recycled materials, reinforced with tape. More generally, the abundance of recycled materials is not surprising since the demonstrations are based on a social movement that places great importance on environmental issues. Further, as many of the participants were young students and children, there were limited resources available. However, finding creative solutions within the constraints of limited resources is an important factor to consider when examining the repertoire of social movements.

Figure 5: Making the placard; copyright: author.

Lastly, I decided to make placards to take to the demonstration. I had invited my mother, who was living with me in our Vienna flat and we bought pens and colored paper from a stationery shop, and then made two placards. At the time, we tried to make things as attractive as possible, but in hindsight, it would have been better to reuse materials given the environmental impact. Once I had made my own placard, I looked forward to joining the demonstration.

Reflecting on My Non-Language Based Research Methods

To be honest, I used to feel ashamed of being a researcher in Vienna who didn’t understand German. However, based on my research experience over the past year, I actually felt grateful for not understanding the German language. If I had been easily able to read the texts on the banners or immediately grasped the meaning of the logos on the placards, I would have failed to notice the environmental considerations on the back of the placards or the collective identity that the banners helped to create. The fact that we cannot fully understand foreign languages enables us to open our recognition to a world beyond language. This can sometimes lead to new avenues of qualitative research.

Sketching and drawing offer an alternative way of capturing a subject other than via language. I learnt this approach from Dr. Pijatta Heinonen2, who specializes in researching social movements and architecture. Heinonen’s drawings focused on structures created by activists, such as squats and protest camps. Drawing enables us to visualize the materials used and the construction process in greater detail. I think that we can try the same challenge to analyze the demonstrations: largely thanks to the power of drawing, I was able to realize the connections between materials, construction, and the intentions of activists in the banners, clothes and placards.

Of course, drawing and sketching are not the only ways to gain a better understanding of a subject’s non-verbal aspects. For example, visual and audio recordings are also important for capturing demonstrations. Furthermore, demonstrations can be recreated using not only sketches, but also scale models or 3D visualizations. Such methods can also provide an alternative perspective on the demonstration as part of a repertoire.

This concludes my fragmentary research notes, but I would like to end by extending an invitation. If you have developed alternative research methods in response to linguistic or environmental constraints, I would be grateful if you could share them. This would encourage researchers in foreign countries with limited language skills, like me, to conceive of new ways of experiencing and analyzing the world around us.

Kyoko Tominaga is Associate Professor of sociology at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan. She received her PhD from the University of Tokyo. Her research focuses on social activism, including (sub-)cultural aspects of social movements. Currently she focuses on squatted spaces in urban environments. Since April 2026, she is a visiting scholar at the Department of East Asian Studies at the University at Vienna.


  1. Goodwin, Jeff and Jasper, James M. 2014. “What Do Movements Do?” In: Goodwin, Jeff and Jasper, James M. (eds.), The Social Movement Reader: Cases and Concepts, 3rd ed., Wiley-Blackwell. ↩︎
  2. Pijatta Heinonen, 2019. “Constructing autonomy: the significance of architecture in creating and manifesting autonomy in protest camps” Social Movement Studies 18(6): 647-666.
    Pijatta Heinonen, 2024. Beyond Planning: prefiguring horizontal practices of architecture in the context of autonomous geographies, PhD Thesis at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. ↩︎

OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Kyoko Tominaga (May 4, 2026). Sketching the Demonstration: Drawing is Understanding. sustainability . Retrieved May 8, 2026 from https://sustainability.hypotheses.org/2608


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