Climate Crisis, Emotions and Activism: The "Letzte Generation"
by Felix Heller
Abstract
The climate crisis affects us all. Like an invisible thread, it runs through every part of our society weaving an ever tighter web around the world. These threads make visible where politics has failed, and social injustices are reinforced. Who has power and who does not? Climate projections see the next 10 years as a crucial window for action to prevent climate change from becoming an irreversible crisis. This will also lead to an increase in emotions and feelings such as stress, anxiety and helplessness. Using the "Letzte Generation" as a case study, my research focuses on where to find emotions in climate activism, how emotions in climate activism are used discursively to influence the politics of climate change, and how emotions affect activists' agency, wellbeing and ultimately their motivation to trade the physical comfort of their homes for the ever-present danger of being hit by a car or physically attacked by angry passersby while sitting in a road blockade with their hands glued to the road.Project Description
Following my interest in the field of climate change, emotions and agency, I conducted six month field research for my Master thesis on the "Letzte Generation" in Göttingen and Berlin starting March 2023. The "Letzte Generation" is a group of climate activists that draws attention to the climate crisis by civil disobedience. Central to their activism is the conviction, that our generation is the last one that can still prevent the tipping points from being overshot. They also accuse the German government of violating Article 20a Basic Law: Protection of the natural foundations of life.During the fieldwork I was focussing on the question of where to find emotions in climate activism, how emotions in climate activism are used discursively to reach out to people, to gain and mobilize new members and to influence the politics of climate change. I was also looking into how emotions affect activists' agency, wellbeing and ultimately their motivation to trade the physical comfort of their homes for the ever present danger of being hit by a car or physically attacked by angry passerby while sitting in a road blockade with their hands glued to the road. Not to mention the pain grips by the police as well as legal and financial consequences of civil disobedience. Including the possibility of getting arrested.
In addition to the method of participant observation and both formal and informal semi structured interviews, I followed an autoethnographic approach, reflecting and focusing on my own emotional perception during crisis meetings and actions of civil disobedience. Staying emotionally aware and open at all times was not only challenging but exhausting, resulting in many nights being interrupted by the recurring nightmare of being unjustly arrested and locked in a dark cell.
Participant observation during actions of civil disobedience inevitably leads to a balancing act between legality and illegality. A topic that has caused me a lot of headaches. How far can I go? How should I deal with the police? What is allowed and when do I make myself liable to prosecution? In order to do something that would also benefit the "Letzte Generation", I began to accompany actions of civil disobedience not only as a participant observer, but also as a photographer. The visual documentation of actions is not only important for the public relations work of the "Letzte Generation" it is also crucial when it comes to documenting verbal or physical violence against activists. However, being a photographer for the "Letzte Generation" made me more vulnerable to the police. As photographers were occasionally accused of being part of the "Letzte Generation" and were taken into custody together with the activists or expelled from the site, I was constantly under tension, especially during the actions in Berlin.
Regularly witnessing verbal and physical violence by passersby and physical violence by the police was an experience that deeply touched and agitated me. Witnessing at close proximity how activists, with whom I had built up a relationship over time, were insulted, ridiculed, laughed at, spat at, pushed, kicked or slapped in the face was very upsetting.
Findings will be published as soon as I’m done with analysing the research data.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or are interested in further information on the research.
Contact: felixheller95@gmx.de