Badge, Popular Resistance, United States of America, 1960s-1980s

Round badge with the slogan 'Uranium, Leave it in the Ground' made by Popular Resistance circa 1960s-1980s. This is one of a series of badges and peace movement posters acquired by the museum following the exhibition 'Peace: an Exhibition' which explored the Peace movement and was part of the Victorian Government contribution to International Year of Peace in 1986.

Anti-nuclear campaigns were being set up worldwide from the late 1950s onwards, with the movement really peaking in the 1970s. Amongst these general campaigns, there were some that specifically targeted uranium mining. Such organisations flourished in Australia, as it was and is still one of the world's largest exporters of uranium. Movement Against Uranium Mining (MAUM), for example, was involved in campaigns against nuclear weapons and French nuclear testing in the Pacific, as well as commemorations of Hiroshima Day. However, as the name suggests, their main aim was to lobby against uranium mining.

Because of the popularity of the Vietnam Moratorium marches, a National Uranium Moratorium campaign was started in 1976 and by 1977 the Melbourne rally had 15.000 participants. This badge was probably used at a similar demonstration. Like most protest slogans, this one was employed by various organisations across a very wide timespan. In Australia, rgulations related to uranium mining are covered by state law. New South Wales, for example, had banned uranium mining in 1986 but the law was repealed in 2012. The slogan 'Uranium, leave it in the ground!' was used with this occasion to protest the decision. Circular badge featuring a brown mountain range against a yellow background. There is red text on the yellow and white text on the brown.