“School Strike for Climate” and Contours of Future Identities

Abstract

This article is devoted to the study of the phenomenon of “Fridays for Future” (FFF) – a young movement of climate activists, whose leader since 2018 has been a Swedish (former) schoolgirl Greta Thunberg. The author’s goal is to consider the contours of the future collective identity that is currently being formed among its participants. A special chapter of the article is devoted to the modern structure of the FFF community, which has transformed significantly, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The movement has successfully taken advantage of the Worldwide Network and diversified its activities. Therefore, even a partial loss of interest from the “big media” did not negatively affect its effectiveness. In another section, the results of the teenage activists’ practices are evaluated. It is argued that at present, their achievements in terms of climate and political goals are not great yet compared to full-fledged “adult” organizations. However, such results are very significant for the community of underage citizens who do not yet have electoral rights, because it will definitely improve in the future. The author unequivocally shares the opinion of researchers who conclude about the “glocal” type of identity that develops in the FFF environment: its activists are focused on solving both global and local problems. It is also noted that young FFF participants use transformative tactics – this is a community of a purely reformist, absolutely not conservative kind. There was a split in their ranks into “moderate” and “radical” wings. This, on the one hand, generally testifies to their acceptance of traditional schemes for building political organizations. On the other hand, the young activists themselves are already enriching the current political mainstream with new influence.