Student activists in Eco Vista in Isla Vista are a prime example of the radical action needed locally and globally to forestall climate change disaster by 2050, says John Foran, professor of sociology at UC Santa Barbara.
Young people’s awareness about the climate crisis that features rising temperatures and sea levels increases anxiety and hopelessness about the world’s future state.
But they are organizing and addressing these negative emotions to connect to the momentous global climate justice movement. This movement mobilizes passionate individuals fighting for systemic change, creating a sustainable environment for the present and future generations.
Foran encourages such individuals to promote sustainability in their local community of Isla Vista and inspire others to join the movement. “That’s where you emotionally, personally, and experientially connect to this larger movement, this abstract thing called the global climate justice movement,” Foran said.
These connections coordinate and empower dedicated individuals to change the repressive status quo Foran says. He researches today’s global climate justice movement and says despite its nonviolence, this movement still makes radical societal changes because it follows the trajectory of past revolutions from the 20th and early 21st centuries.
“These movements are based on consensus, collaborative, deeply democratic processes. And when you do that genuinely, more ideas emerge,” Foran said.
He articulated this in a 2017 article that said social movements create political cultures of opposition and creation, meaning individuals share social grievances such as inequality, which inspire their fight for a better society. His study of revolutions in countries such as Cuba, Nicaragua and Iran showed him cultures rely on individuals’ emotional experiences of repression and it is necessary to connect them to organized groups fighting for change.
Eco Vista and the global climate justice movement show radical action through activists’ bonds about climate injustices ranging from environmental issues such as natural disasters to social issues, like the exploitation of labor workers. “Crisis creates opportunity,” Foran said.
Activists discuss these climate change grievances and attempt transforming today’s unjust society into a positive one through mobilization and organization.
Eco Vista’s members meet and voice concerns about society in a democratic and collaborative way, helping them develop ways to create a sustainable movement that restructures the system that continues to deplete natural resources and destroy civilization.
Their efforts to combat the climate crisis include reducing waste, decreasing the carbon footprint and fighting food insecurity.
Like this local organization, people must band together in the global climate justice movement to radically restructure the current system destroying the world.
Activists, like sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg, spoke at the Sept. U.N. Climate Action Summit in New York City about the urgency of addressing climate change because the continued use of emissions will lead to extinction. She said world leaders fail acting against climate change and “the eyes of all future generations” anticipate governmental action to beat the crisis.
Organizations like Extinction Rebellion and the Sunrise Movement mirror this push for radical change because they emphasize collaboration and horizontalism, meaning they build movements bottom-up by acknowledging activists’ roles in creating systemic change Foran said. Activists join forces and develop mobilizing strategies such as capturing the public’s attention through protests about climate change.
But society’s dependence on capitalism, which uses earth’s natural resources for profit stalls mass mobilization’s promotion of the global climate justice movement. In a 2017 article Foran said capitalism negatively affects parts of society including the economy, politics and culture. Corporations’ extraction of fossil fuels and wealthy nations’ oil exports destroy the ecosystem and perpetuate social inequalities, like exploitation, racism and income inequality.
Yet he makes the point the creation of alliances with progressive groups, such as the Green Party, support of local agriculture to eliminate mass food production and unity among social justice groups can push society towards a better future.
He remains hopeful because the young generation’s radical organizing skills and alliances with other movements show resistance to climate change and capitalism are part of the global climate justice movement.
“It’s not a single movement. It’s a network of movements, a movement of movements,” Foran said.
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