The year 2018 was a watershed in environmental activism, especially regarding young activists. Greta Thunberg started her School Strikes for Climate and the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion was founded. This article deals with young people’s involvement in these two global movements. It draws on 60 semi-structured interviews carried out with young environmental activists before, during and after protest actions under the auspices of the climate strikes and/or Extinction Rebellion in five British locations.
The period of the political socialisation of this young generation is outlined and how it contributes to young people becoming environmental activists. The article then identifies the “radical” demands made by young environmental activists and their “radical” repertoire of contention in relation to their perceptions of the “radical” compared to hegemonic definitions.
The interviews show that these young environmentalists are part of a generation of activists committed to obtaining significant change from powerholders through the use of deliberately non-violent direct action that challenges academic perceptions of radical repertoires of contention.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
Arya, D., Bowman, B. and Pickard, S. (2019). Young Climate Strikers are Neither Immature Nor Ill-informed. London School of Economics - LSE Politics and Policy Blog, October 21. (https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/britains-young-climate-strikers).
Bajracharya, D. (1994). Primary Environmental Care for Sustainable Livelihood: A UNICEF Perspective. Childhood 2 (1–2), pp. 41–55.
Beatfreeks. (2020). A National Youth Trends Report Understanding The Impact of Coronavirus on Young People in the UK. National Youth Trends Take the Temperature. (https://www.beatfreeksyouthtrends.com).
Bessant, J. (2021). Making Up Young People: Youth, Truth and Politics. London and New York: Routledge.
Bessant, J., Farthing, R. and Watts, R. (2017). The Precarious Generation: A Political Economy of Young People. London and New York: Routledge.
Bessant, J., Mejia Mesinas, A. and Pickard, S.(forthcoming 2021). Introductory essays. In: Bessant J., Mejia Mesinas A. and Pickard S., eds. 3 Volumes, When Students Protest. Volume 1: When Students Protest: Secondary and High Schools. Volume 2: When Students Protest: Universities in Global South. Volume 3: When Students Protest: Universities in Global North. Washington: Rowman and Littlefield.
Boulianne, S. and Theocharis, Y. (2018). Young People, Digital Media, and Engagement: A Meta-Analysis of Research. Social Science Computer Review 38 (2), pp. 111–127.
Bowman, B. (2014). 2011: Young Rioters and Imagined Revolution in the British Utopia of Calm. Postcolonial Studies 17 (1), pp. 90–103.
Bowman, B. (2019). Imagining Future Worlds alongside Young Climate Activists: A New Framework for Research. Fennia: International Journal of Geography 197 (2), pp. 295–305.
Bowman, B. (2020). ‘They Don’t Quite Understand The Importance Of What We’re Doing Today’: The Young People’s Climate Strikes As Subaltern Activism. Sustainable Earth 3(16).
Bramall, R. (2013). The Cultural Politics of Austerity: Past and Present in Austere Times. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). (2019). Extinction Rebellion: High Court Rules London Protest Ban Unlawful. BBC News Online. November 6. (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50316561).
Cairns, D., de Almeida Alves, N., Alexandre, A., and Correia, A. (2016). Youth Unemployment and Job Precariousness: Political Participation in the Austerity Era. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Carter, N. (2018). The Politics of the Environment: Ideas, Activism, Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Third edition.
Castells, M. (2015). Networks of Outrage and Hope: Social Movements in the Internet Age. Cambridge: Polity Press. Second edition.
Collin, P. and Matthews, I.(forthcoming 2021). School Strike For Climate: Australian Students Renegotiating Citizenship. In: Bessant J., Mejia Mesinas A. and Pickard S., eds, When Students Protest. Secondary and High Schools. Washington: Rowman and Littlefield, chapter 8.
Cooper, V. and Whyte, D. (2017). The Violence of Austerity. London: Pluto Press.
Cunningham, S. and Lavalette, M. (2004). ‘Active Citizens’ or ‘Irresponsible Truants’? School Student Strikes against the War. Critical Social Policy 24 (2), pp. 255–269.
della Porta, D. (2013a). Can Democracy be Saved? Participation, Deliberation and Social Movements. Cambridge: Polity Press.
della Porta, D. (2013b). Repertoires of Contention. Wiley Online Library (https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470674871.wbespm178).
della Porta, D. (2015). Social Movements in Times of Austerity: Bringing Capitalism back into Protest Analysis. Bristol: Polity Press.
della Porta, D. and Haupt, H.G. (2012). Patterns of Radicalization in Political Activism: An Introduction. Social Science History 36 (3), 311–320.
Dobson, A. (2000). Green Political Thought. New York and London: Routledge. Third edition.
Dodd, V. and Grierson, J. (2020). Terrorism Police List Extinction Rebellion as Extremist Ideology. The Guardian. January 10. (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/10/xr-extinction-rebellion-listed-extremist-ideology-police-prevent-scheme-guidance).
Doherty, B. and Paterson, M., eds. (2000). Direct Action in British Environmentalism. London and New York: Routledge.
Ehsan, R and Sloam, J. (2020). Resources, Values, Identity: Young Cosmopolitans and the Referendum on British Membership of the European Union, Parliamentary Affairs 73 (1), pp. 46–65.
Emilsson, K., Johansson, H. and Wennerhag, M. (2020) Frame Disputes or Frame Consensus? ‘Environment’ or ‘Welfare’ First Amongst Climate Strike Protesters. Sustainability 12 (3), pp. 882–902.
European Social Survey. (2018). (http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org).
Extinction Rebellion (2019a). This is Not a Drill. An Extinction Rebellion Handbook. London: Penguin.
Extinction Rebellion. (2019b). Extinction Rebellion website. (https://rebellion.earth).
Extinction Rebellion. (2019c). XR Global Hunger Strike. ‘Event.’ Extinction Rebellion website. 18 November. (https://rebellion.earth/event/global-hunger-strike).
Extinction Rebellion. (2019d). Extinction Rebellion to begin Global Climate Hunger Strikes in 22 countries. ‘News.’ Extinction Rebellion website. November 14. (https://rebellion.earth/2019/11/14/monday-18-november-extinction-rebellion-to-begin-global-climate-hunger-strikes-in-22-countries).
Farnsworth, K. and Irving, Z. (2015). Social Policy in Times of Austerity: Global Economic Crisis and the New Politics of Welfare. Bristol: Policy Press.
Farthing, R. (2010). The Politics of Youthful Antipolitics: Representing the ‘Issue’ of Youth Participation in Politics. Journal of Youth Studies 13 (2), pp.181–195.
Fletcher, R. (2018). License to Kill: Contesting the Legitimacy of Green Violence. Conservation and Society 16 (2), pp. 147–56.
Foran, J. (2019). Manifesto for a Sociology of Climate Change. In: Bhavnani K.K., Foran J., Kurian P and Munshi D, eds. Climate Futures. Reimagining Global Climate Justice. New York: Zed Books, pp. 105–113.
Furlong, A. (2013). Youth Studies. An Introduction. London: Routledge.
Furlong, A. (2017). Routledge Handbook of Youth and Young Adulthood. London: Routledge. Second edition.
Giugni, M. and Grasso, M. (2019). Street Citizens: Protest Politics and Social Movement Activism in the Age of Globalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Grasso, M. (2016). Generations, Political Participation and Social Change in Western Europe. London and New York: Routledge.
Grasso, M. (2017). Young People’s Political Participation in Europe in Times of Crisis. In: Pickard S. and Bessant J., eds., Young People Re-Generating Politics in Times of Crises. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 179–196.
Grasso, M., Farrall, S., Hay, C., Gray, E. and Jennings, W. (2017). Thatcher’s Children, Blair’s Babies, Political Socialisation and Trickle-down Value Change. An Age, Period and Cohort analysis. British Journal of Political Science (41) 2.
Grierson, J. and Scott, R. (2020). Extinction Rebellion Listed as ‘Key Threat’ by Counter-terror Police. The Guardian. 19 January. (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/19/extinction-rebellion-listed-as-key-threat-by-counter-terror-police).
Griffiths, J. (2019). Courting Arrest. In: Extinction Rebellion, eds. This is Not a Drill. An Extinction Rebellion Handbook. London: Penguin, pp. 95–98.
Hallam, R. (2019). Common Sense for the Twenty-First Century. Only Nonviolent Rebellion Can Now Stop Climate Breakdown and Social Collapse. (https://www.rogerhallam.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Common-Sense-for-the-21st-Century_by-Roger-Hallam-Download-version.pdf).
Hallam, R. (2019). I’m Out of Prison! Extinction Rebellion Facebook. 26 October. (https://www.facebook.com/roger.hallam.7/posts/2659331887521111).
Hansard Society. (2019). Audit of Political Engagement 16. The 2019 Report. The annual health check on attitudes towards politics in Great Britain. (https://www.hansardsociety.org.uk/publications/reports/audit-of-political-engagement-16).
Harrison, S. (2019). Hostility Barometer 4. Electoral Psychology Observatory (London School of Economics) and Opinium. 19 November.
Henn, M., Oldfield, B. and Hart, J. (2018). Postmaterialism and Young People’s Political Participation in a Time of Austerity: Postmaterialism. The British Journal of Sociology 69 (3), pp. 712–737.
Henn, M. and Pickard, S., eds. (2021). Youth Activism in Environmental Politics. Frontiers political participation special issue.
Holmberg, A. and Alvinius, A. (2019). Children’s Protest in Relation to the Climate Emergency: A Qualitative Study on a New Form of Resistance Promoting Political And Social Change. Childhood 27 (1), pp. 78–92.
Horton, J. (2016). Anticipating Service Withdrawal: Young People in Spaces of Neoliberalisation, Austerity and Economic Crisis. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 41 (4), pp. 349–362.
Howker, E. and Malik, S. (2013). Jilted Generation: How Britain Bankrupted Its Youth. London: Icon Books. Second edition.
Inglehart, R. (1977). The Silent Revolution: Changing Values And Political Styles Among Western Publics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Inglehart, R. (1997). Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic, and Political Change in 43 Societies. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).(2018). Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5°C. United Nations. (https://report.ipcc.ch/sr15/pdf/sr15_spm_final.pdf).
Jackson, W., Gilmore, J. and Monk, H. (2018). Policing Unacceptable Protest in England and Wales: A Case Study Of The Policing Of Anti-fracking Protests. Critical Social Policy 39 (1), pp. 23–43.
Jackson, W., Monk, H., Gilmore, J. and Short, D. (2019). Protesters’ Experiences of Policing at Anti-fracking Protests in England, 2016–2019: A National Study. Liverpool: The Centre for the Study of Crime, Criminalisation and Social Exclusion, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU).
Järvikoski, T. (1995). Young People as Actors in the Environmental Movement. Young 3 (3), pp. 80–93.
Kakenmaster, W. (2019). Articulating Resistance: Agonism, Radical Democracy and Climate Change Activism. Millennium: Journal of International Studies 47 (3), pp. 373–397.
Kyroglou, G. and Henn, M. (2017). Political Consumerism as a Neoliberal Response to Youth Political Disengagement. Societies (7) 4.
Kyroglou, G. and Henn, M. (2020). Pulled In and Pushed Out of Politics: The Impact of Neoliberalism on Young People’s Differing Political Consumerist Motivations in the UK and Greece. International Political Science Review.
Mannheim, K. (1952). The Problem of Generations. In: Kecskemeti P., ed., Essays on the Sociology of Knowledge. London and New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp. 276–320.
Micheletti, M., Stolle, D. and Berlin, D. (2012). Habits of Sustainable Citizenship: The Example of Political Consumerism. In: Warde A. and Sotherton D., eds. The Habits of Consumption. University of Helsinki, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies.
Muncie, E. (2019). ‘Peaceful Protesters’ and ‘Dangerous Criminals’: The Framing and Reframing of Anti-fracking Activists in the UK. Social Movement Studies 19 (4), pp. 464–481.
Muxel, A. (2010). Avoir 20 and en politique. Les enfants du désenchantement. Paris: Éditions du Seuil.
Muxel, A. (2018). Politiquement Jeune. La Tour d’Aigues: Éditions de l’Aube.
Norris, P. and Inglehart, R. (2018). Cultural backlash: Trump, Brexit, and authoritarian populism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
O’Brien, K., Selboe, E. and Hayward, B. M. (2018). Exploring Youth Activism on Climate Change: Dutiful, Disruptive, and Dangerous Dissent. Ecology and Society 23 (3), pp. 42.
Persson, M. (2015). Education and Political Participation. British Journal of Political Science 45 (3), pp. 689–703.
Pickard, S. (2019a). Politics, Protest and Young People: Political Participation and Dissent in 21st Century Britain. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Pickard, S. (2019b). Excessive Force, Coercive Policing and Criminalisation of Dissent: Repressing Young People’s Protest in Twenty-first Century Britain. Revista Internacional de Sociología 77 (4).
Pickard, S. (2019c). Young Environmental Activists Doing It Themselves. Political Studies Association (PSA), Political Insight 10 (4), pp. 4–7.
Pickard, S. (2020). The Nature of Environmental Activism among Young People in Britain in the Twenty-first Century. In: Prendiville B. and Haigron D., eds. Political Ecology and Environmentalism in Britain. Cambridge Scholars, pp. 89–109.
Pickard, S. and Bessant, J., eds. (2017). Young People Re-Generating Politics in Times of Crises. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Pickard, S., Bowman, B. and Arya, D.(forthcoming 2021). Youth and Environmental Activism. In Giugni M. and Grasso M., eds. Routledge Handbook of Environmental Movements. London and New York: Routledge, chapter 34.
Power, N. (2012) Dangerous Subjects: UK Students and the Criminalization of Protest. South Atlantic Quarterly 111 (2), pp. 412–420.
Reicher, S. and Stott, (2020). On order and Disorder during the COVID-19 Pandemic. British Journal of Psychology 59 (3), pp. 694–702.
RisingUp! (https://risingup.org.uk).
Roberts, D. E. (2012). Race, Gender, and the Political Conflation of Biological and Social Issues. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race 9 (1), pp. 235–244.
Rootes, C. (2000). Environmental Protest in Britain 1988–1997. In: Seel B., Paterson M. and Doherty B., eds. Direct Action in British Environmentalism. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 25–61.
Rootes. C. (2003). Britain. In: Rootes C., ed., Environmental Protest in Western Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 20–58.
Rootes. C., ed. (1997). Environmental Movements. London and New York: Routledge.
Saunders, C. (2013). Environmental Networks and Social Movement Theory. London: Bloomsbury.
Saunders, C., Roth, S. and Olcese, C. (2015). Anti-Cuts Protests in the UK: Are We Really All in This Together? In: Giugni M. and Grasso M., eds. Austerity and Protest. Farnham: Ashgate, pp. 171–190.
Seel, B., Paterson, M. and Doherty, B., eds. (2000). Direct Action in British Environmentalism. London and New York: Routledge.
Sloam, J. (2020). Young Londoners, Sustainability and Everyday Politics: The Framing of Environmental Issues in a Global City. Sustainable Earth 3 (14).
Sloam, J. and Henn, M. (2019). Youthquake: The Rise of Young Cosmopolitans in Britain. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sloam, J., Pickard, S. and Henn, M., eds. (forthcoming 2021). Young People and Environmental Activism: The Transformation of Democratic Politics. Special issue, Journal of Youth Studies.
Stephens, S. (1996). Reflections on Environmental Justice: Children as Victims and Actors. Social Justice 4 (66), pp. 62–86.
Stolle, D., Hooghe, M., and Micheletti, M. (2018). Politics in the Supermarket: Political Consumerism as a Form of Political Participation. International Political Science Review 26 (3), pp. 245–269.
Sukarieh, M. and Tannock, S. (2015). Youth Rising? The Politics of Youth and the Global Economy. London and New York: Routledge.
Tarrow. S. (1998). Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 255.
Taylor, D. E. (2000). The Rise of the Environmental Justice Paradigm: Injustice Framing and the Social Construction of Environmental Discourses. American Behavioral Scientist 43 (4), pp. 508–580.
Taylor, M. and Watts, J. (2019). ‘Enough is Enough’: Biggest-ever Climate Protest Sweeps UK. The Guardian. September 20.
Theocharis, Y. and van Deth, J. (2018). Political Participation in the Changing World. London and New York: Routledge.
Thunberg, G. (2019a). No One is Too Small to Make a Difference. London: Penguin.
Thunberg, G. (2019b). Thunberg’s Speech At The U.N. Climate Action Summit. New York. September 23.
Thunberg, G., Hinchliffe, J., Ferreira de Assis, D., Peña Panichine, J., Jullian, R., Neubauer, L., Kangujam, L., Wicker, D., Haddad, J., Adenike, O., Badruddin, I., Makichyan, A., Gillibrand, H., Martínez, A., Axelsson, I., Axelsson, S., Jarl, E., Pohankova, S., Dolder, L., Nakate, V. and Iron Eyes, T. (2020). At Davos We Will Tell World Leaders To Abandon The Fossil Fuel Economy. The Guardian. January 10. (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/10/greta-thunberg-davos-tycoons-fossil-fuels-dismantle-climate-crisis).
Tiberj, V. (2017). Les citoyens qui viennent: Comment le renouvellement générationnel transforme la politique en France. Collection Le lien social. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France (PUF).
Tilly, C. (1986). The Contentious French. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
Tilly, C. (1995). Popular Contention in Great Britain 1758–1934. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Townsend, M. (2019). Tube Protest was a Mistake, Admit Leading Extinction Rebellion Members. The Guardian. October 20. (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/20/extinction-rebellion-tube-protest-was-a-mistake).
Tufekci, Z. (2014). The Medium and the Movement: Digital Tools, Social Movement Politics and the End of the Free Rider Problem. Policy and Internet, pp. 202–208.
United Kingdom Student Climate Network (UKSCN). (2019). Welcome page. (https://ukscn.org).
Verick, S. (2010). Who is Hit Hardest during a Financial Crisis? The Vulnerability of Young Men and Women to Unemployment in an Economic Downturn. In: Islam I. and Verick S., eds. From the Great Recession to Labour Market Recovery: Issues, Evidence and Policy Options. London: Palgrave Macmillan and International Labour Organization (ILO).
Wahlström, M., Kocyba, P., De Vydt, M., de Moor, J. (2019). Protest For A Future: Composition, Mobilization and Motives of The Participants in Fridays For Future Climate Protests on 15 March 2019 in 13 European Cities. (https://gup.ub.gu.se/publication/283193).
Wall, D. (1999). EarthFirst! and the Anti-roads Movement: Radical Environmentalism and Comparative Social Movements. London and New York: Routledge.
Wolf, J. and Moser, S. (2011). Individual Understandings, Perceptions, And Engagement With Climate Change: Insights From In-depth Studies Across The World: Individual Understandings, Perceptions, and Engagement with Climate Change. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change 2 (4), pp. 547–569.
YouGov. (2019). Which Of The Following Do You Think Are The Most Important Issues Facing The Country At This Time?YouGov survey results, 30–31 October. (https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/rxpylj3uwa/Internal_Issues_191031_W.pdf).
All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 4994 | 1632 | 123 |
Full Text Views | 551 | 225 | 16 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 1001 | 391 | 31 |
The year 2018 was a watershed in environmental activism, especially regarding young activists. Greta Thunberg started her School Strikes for Climate and the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion was founded. This article deals with young people’s involvement in these two global movements. It draws on 60 semi-structured interviews carried out with young environmental activists before, during and after protest actions under the auspices of the climate strikes and/or Extinction Rebellion in five British locations.
The period of the political socialisation of this young generation is outlined and how it contributes to young people becoming environmental activists. The article then identifies the “radical” demands made by young environmental activists and their “radical” repertoire of contention in relation to their perceptions of the “radical” compared to hegemonic definitions.
The interviews show that these young environmentalists are part of a generation of activists committed to obtaining significant change from powerholders through the use of deliberately non-violent direct action that challenges academic perceptions of radical repertoires of contention.
All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 4994 | 1632 | 123 |
Full Text Views | 551 | 225 | 16 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 1001 | 391 | 31 |