Q-Seminarium (Öppet seminarium)
Presentatör
Anna Friberg, Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer, Dep. Of History, LiU
Abstract
Environmental activism’s narratives are shaped by multitemporal horizons, challenging the idea of homogenous and linear time. By describing future ecological end-time(s), activists of the 1970s advocated present change. However, climate activism in the 2010s brought new horizons, conflicting with their forerunners. The ecological end-time is no longer seen in a future tense but a present one; we are in a (post)apocalyptic condition. What happenes with long-standing environmental activist organizations’ conceptions of time when they clash against these new and radical temporal horizons? By exploring key narratives from Greenpeace International and Friends of the Earth International, 1970–2025, the project’s purpose is to contribute to the understanding of contemporary environmental activism and the trajectories of the environmental movement. The aim is to identify and analyze the multitemporal horizons that global environmental activism has been entangled in, challenged, and (re)produced over a fifty-year period. A historical study contributes with important but unexplored perspectives to social movement studies and temporality studies by merging theory of historical time with process-based utopian theory. As INGOs are prominent players in global environmental governance, and in the articulation of possible futures, it is crucial to understand what influences their narratives especially given the different political responses these espouse.