Joost de Moor, “What Moment for Climate Activism?”, South Atlantic Quarterly, 2023

We hereby signal the publication of a new article by Joost de Moor entitled “Introduction: What Moment for Climate Activism?” in the issue 122 of South Atlantic Quarterly.

Extract

Since late 2018, the world—Europe, Australia, and North America in particular—have seen a great wave of climate activism. Extinction Rebellion (XR) and Fridays For Future (FFF) in particular brought a large number of (new) climate activists into the streets, until the pandemic brought the mobilization to a halt. The contours of this mobilization have already been described elsewhere (de Moor et al. 2021). Here, we focus on understanding its significance, and that of climate movements more generally, through the lens of temporality. In popular and academic discussions alike, climate activists are portrayed as the planet’s saviors, having to make up for the impotency of governments worldwide before the window for meaningful action permanently closes. This desperate anticipation is perhaps best illustrated by Time Magazine’s nomination of Greta Thunberg as Person of the Year for 2019. It stands in sharp contrast to growing numbers who hold a postapocalyptic orientation in society, who perceive climate breakdown as already here or inevitable, and for whom climate activism represents a new form of climate denial—the denial of the fact that it is already “too late.” Between these two poles of naïve faith in, and pessimistic dismissal of, climate movements, how might climate movements really matter today? An answer may be found by problematizing and transcending the binary “now-or-never” temporality that underlies these polarized discussions. As contributions to this dossier explore more generally, by problematizing temporalities we may find greater space to appreciate the significance of climate movements today.