The Politics of Climate Activism in the UK: A Social Movement Analysis

Abstract

This paper uses social movement theory (SMT) as a theoretical ‘gymnasium’ to explore the limits and possibilities of climate activism in the UK. The core SMT concepts are used to explore why climate activism emerged when it did, and how conceptions of there being a problem were translated into arguments about what should be done. If something should be done, is contentious politics or policy change the most appropriate strategy? At what scale should action take place: a local politics of prefiguration, through direct action, or in more visible mass mobilisations? It is argued that climate activism takes place in a diverse range of political spaces and scales and works actively to produce knowledges about the dangers of anthropogenic climate change and responsibilities for it, but it is unclear that it has the motive power to move to more sustainable ways of organising human society.