Thread by @joost_de_moor

Colleagues have commented on the legitimacy & effectiveness of recent climate actions like #SoupGate & #MashedMonet using general social movement theory. But can climate activism really be understood like other movements? I argue it cannot as I give my take on the matter👇👇 1/14

Preamble: A good example of such a discussion is

https://twitter.com/SocialChangeUQ/status/1581533349104869376

2/14

Discussions so far overlook the unique temporality and scope of climate change as a problem: namely, that we continue to discount climate change as a problem of the future while time is in fact running out NOW & the problem can only be solved through global transformation. 3/14

What does that mean for activism? Given the scope of the problem, it is almost impossible to say something meaningful about conditions for effectiveness, as the criteria for success are incomparable to movements facing ‘normal’ problems like, say, a pension reform. 4/14

Yes, we can look at more easily quantifiable components, like change in public opinion on climate, but even then, the complete transformation of society is non-linear and remains unpredictable. 5/14

& yes climate activists face familiar dilemmas like: how to make sure you get attention without losing support? But attention is not enough. Climate activists constantly fight to keep the end of the world higher on the agenda than the end of the month or of the election term 6/14

So temporality is key: as climate change remains a future scenario for most western electorates, activists from groups like @ExtinctionRebellion and @JustStop_Oil desperately struggle to convince society that the window for effective climate action is CLOSING NOW. 7/14

A lot of the current actions reflect this temporal desperation. In their apparent recklessness, they appear as performances intended to convince audiences of the activists’ temporality. 8/14

This desperation also changes the role of effectiveness: in the face of a problem the size of climate change, effectiveness becomes an almost meaningless and inevitably demotivating question. The only effective thing becomes not to think about effectiveness. 9/14

But the risk is that activists miss opportunities to be impactful or that activism becomes an end in itself intended to demonstrate individual responsibility. Activists need to carefully strike a balance as they shift focus between what is morally right & what is strategic. 10/14

Temporality is key in another way. Andreas Malm’s 'How to Blow Up a Pipeline' argues that far more disruptive tactics are justified from the perspective of future generations living in a world of #climatechaos & asks today’s activists to adopt that temporal perspective 11/14

Malm is influential and his temporality is likely influencing climate activists as they are currently escalating their tactics, hoping that one day they will be able to “look their grandchildren in the eye”. And in so doing they invite audiences to do the same. 12/14

The main question is then: will they succeed in bringing the rest of society to their temporality, and will doing so be enough to set in motion the kind of total sustainability transformation we so desperately need? 13/14

In short: in this discussion we must consider much closer the unique features of climate change as a problem, and introduce the question of temporality and scope in discussions of legitimacy & effectiveness. 14/14

this may interest you @Fisher_DanaR @Gemenne @MatthiasPetel @GraemeHayes @louise_knops @picharbonnier @SocialChangeUQ @KatrinUba @berglund_oscar

@marcsrhudson