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Art and Politics
Art and Politics
Social Movements and Climate Change ELEONORA POLI Senior Fellow, Istituto Affari Internazionali We are living in a time of confrontation: cultural clashes often define our way of living, political clashes delineate what we stand for, racial clashes feed our understanding of social rights. Then there are more general forms of social divisions, such as those David Goodhart associates with British society, clashes between the cosmopolitan mobile “anywheres” and the less mobile “somewheres”. Yet this dichotomy can be seen across the world. The “anywheres” are those whose identity has been shaped by multiple social and cultural networks. They are the inhabitants of an open world. The “somewheres” on the other hand are those who find themselves struggling in an open world, because their identity is defined by a very local and exclusive dimension. And yet, when related to youngsters and climate change, such a division loses definition. As climate change is certainly a cross-cutting issue, the “Fridays for Future” (FFF) movement has the potential to include all kinds of individuals, uniting the local and the global dimensions and, to some extent, the anywheres and the somewheres. The movement developed in 2018 when the Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, frustrated by her government’s unsatisfactory climate policy, organised a “solo protest” by sitting outside the Swedish Parliament every Friday morning. Since then, Greta’s solo protest has expanded, reaching around 7,500 cities across the world, outgrowing mainstream and traditional environmental organisations. The movement is currently supported by and connects people from all walks of life, from the developed to the developing parts of the globe, from the economically prosperous to the poor. This has been possible because the issue the movement stands for goes beyond traditional political and cultural cleavages. The consequences of pollution and environmental exploitation are existential and they present a challenge that everyone will have to deal with, especially the younger generations.
What is so special about this movement? In contrast with previous movements, FFF is based on an ideal of scientific consensus yet is not idealistic; it is highly political but, because of its appeal to a wide variety of people, it is not linked to any traditional political party. Rising social inequality and economic insecurity as well as the exploitation of natural resources are making today’s economic systems guilty of neglecting social as well as planetary issues. Yet FFF does not unreasonably question capitalism per se. On the contrary, it takes a pragmatic stance in calling on governments and businesses to find ways to transform the means of production and consumption into more sustainable paths for the survival of all. Deal or President Biden’s declared commitment to the Paris Agreement are all promising signs of commitment.
Any solution, however, will take time to put into effect, though time is running out. As the street artwork by Jerico displays, since the earliest civilisations humans have been attempting to challenge their limits, govern and dominate the environment they inhabit, distancing themselves from nature. And yet, as unrealistic as it might sound, the environment has now the potential to overcome social divisions and to build a sense of community that goes beyond traditional disagreements. At the same time, it is also changing politics, as a generation of young citizens is gaining unprecedented traction on the political scene, urging governments around the world, businesses and local administrations to take more radical actions on climate change for everyone’s sake.
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