Activism without hope? Four varieties of postapocalyptic environmentalism

Abstract

Hope has long been seen as essential to motivate social movement activism. However, as seen in the transition movement and collapsology networks, a ‘postapocalyptic’ environmentalism that views catastrophe as ongoing or unavoidable is gaining ground, reflecting an increasing awareness that environmental catastrophes are already here or have become inevitable. If hope can no longer mean hope in averting catastrophe, what role does hope play and what form does it take? Can there be activism without hope? Based on interviews with participants in the transition movement and collapsology networks in Sweden, I propose a typology of forms of postapocalyptic activism. In the first (‘campaigning’), hope is accompanied by confrontational action. In the second (‘mourning’), loss of hope brings about a withdrawal from such action. A third form (‘building’) shows how new hope is generated through non-confrontational action, while a fourth form (‘doing the right thing’) is represented by confrontational action resting on other motivations than hope

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