(Water) bottles and (street) barricades: the politicisation of lifestyle-centred action in youth climate strike participation

Abstract

In resisting climate change, to what extent can lifestyle forms of activism be considered to be political, especially when compared to claim-based forms of action? What are their determinants and to what extent do they differ from the determinants of other forms of action? What role do generational factors play? Does the centrality of lifestyle changes for young participants translate into a disaffection towards more traditional forms of action? This article explores the forms of action adopted by participants in two Fridays For Future (FFF) strikes, focusing on the repertoires of action and lifestyles of (young) climate justice protesters. While FFF does not only involve young people, it is a movement in which the youngest generation in society plays a leading role. We draw on protest survey data covering the FFF demonstrations held in 15 European countries in March and September 2019. Starting from a sharp generational contrast between the importance given to individual lifestyle changes in addressing the climate emergency, we investigate whether this results in significant generational differences in the choice of the repertoires of action. Challenging the vision of young people as 'disaffected citizens', it is demonstrated that young activists do not participate less in political, claim-based forms of action than older cohorts. Furthermore, a process of politicisation can be seen to be unfolding that leads to increased commitment in both lifestyle and political forms of participation-at least among active milieus.

Young people's climate activism: A review of the literature

“…With this methodology, a large number of trained researchers administer questionnaires randomly at these protest events. Wahlström et al (2019) and Zamponi et al (2022), used a similar methodology in cities across Europe. Called "Caught in the act of protest: contextualizing contestation" or CCC, these scholars use a "pointer" who systematically directs researchers to select participants for surveys and interviews (Walgrave et al, 2016).…”

“…In current research, most available data focuses exclusively on young people in Europe, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. This is particularly notable when it comes to examining the composition of young people engaging in climate activism-there have been several large quantitative studies capturing protest participation across Europe (Wahlström et al, 2019;Zamponi et al, 2022) and some in the United States (Fisher and Nasrin, 2021b). While these studies are important in establishing the demographics of these movements, the literature neglects participation in most of the world.…”

Rich kids of Europe? Social basis and strategic choices in the climate activism of Fridays for Future

“…(2019), as ‘we know that most people do not attend protests regularly, if at all, it is all the more important to understand the characteristics of people who do demonstrate’ in order to sketch an accurate picture of protests, their motivations and demands, recruitment processes, organizational settings, strategies, and aspirations. Employing the established technique of protest surveys, which was designed to sample respondents in moving crowds (van Aelst and Walgrave, 2001; van Stekeleburg et al ., 2012; Giugni and Grasso, 2019), a consortium of researchers from universities across Europe surveyed the largest demonstration in several cities under the FFF banner held, first, in March 2019 and, second, during the ‘Global Week for Future’ in September later that year (Wahlström et al ., 2019; de Moor et al ., 2020; Zamponi et al ., 2021). In the demonstrations, researchers and trained collaborators distributed ‘flyers with basic information about the survey and a QR-code, as well as a token taking the individual to an online survey’ (Wahlström et al ., 2019: 5–6).…”

Entscheidungsfindung und Einfluss bei Fridays for Future – Zur Rolle von Basisdemokratie, Hierarchien und Expertise

“…2020 ; Della Porta und Portos 2021 ; Giugni und Grasso 2021 ) oder dem Framing von Klimaaktivist:innen (Kern und Opitz 2021 ; Svensson und Wahlström 2021 ; Zamponi et al. 2022 ). Darüber hinaus ist die Fallstudie aus einer Generationsperspektive relevant.…”