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Framing “The Climate Issue”: Patterns of Participation and Prognostic Frames among Climate Summit Protesters

Author

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  • Mattias Wahlström

    (Mattias Wahlström is a post-doctoral research fellow at the Department of Sociology and Work Science, University of Gothenburg.)

  • Magnus Wennerhag

    (Magnus Wennerhag is a researcher in sociology at Gothenburg University and Södertörn University, Sweden.)

  • Christopher Rootes

    (Christopher Rootes is a professor of environmental politics and political sociology at the University of Kent, Canterbury.)

Abstract

Did the protests surrounding recent climate summits mark the emergence of a climate justice movement? We analyze responses to surveys of three large demonstrations in Copenhagen, Brussels, and London, organized in connection with the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference (COP-15) to determine who demonstrated, and how and why the collective action frames employed by demonstrators varied. The demonstrations were products of the mobilization of broad coalitions of groups, and we find significant variation in demonstrators' prognostic framings—the ways in which they formulated solutions to climate problems. Most notably, there was a tension between system-critical framings and those oriented around individual action. A large proportion of demonstrators expressed affinity with the global justice movement (GJM), but we find little evidence of an emerging “climate justice” frame among rank-and-file protesters. Individual variations in framing reflect differences between the mobilization contexts of the three demonstrations, the perspectives and values of individual participants, and the extent of their identification with the GJM. © 2013 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Mattias Wahlström & Magnus Wennerhag & Christopher Rootes, 2013. "Framing “The Climate Issue”: Patterns of Participation and Prognostic Frames among Climate Summit Protesters," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 13(4), pages 101-122, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:13:y:2013:i:4:p:101-122
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Dimmelmeier, Andreas & Egerer, Elsa, 2023. "Das Transformationspotential des deutschen Sustainable Finance Diskurses: Eine Einschätzung auf Basis von Logiken und Frames," OSF Preprints cgfmz, Center for Open Science.
    2. Joost Moor, 2022. "Prioritizing adaptation and mitigation in the climate movement: evidence from a cross-national protest survey of the Global Climate Strike, 2019," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 27(6), pages 1-19, August.
    3. Evan Gach, 2019. "Normative Shifts in the Global Conception of Climate Change: The Growth of Climate Justice," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-18, January.
    4. Maria Stella Righettini, 2021. "Framing Sustainability. Evidence from Participatory Forums to Taylor the Regional 2030 Agenda to Local Contexts," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-15, April.
    5. Andreas Goldthau & Benjamin K. Sovacool, 2016. "Energy Technology, Politics, and Interpretative Frames: Shale Gas Fracking in Eastern Europe," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 16(4), pages 50-69, November.
    6. Kajsa Emilsson & Håkan Johansson & Magnus Wennerhag, 2020. "Frame Disputes or Frame Consensus? “Environment” or “Welfare” First Amongst Climate Strike Protesters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-20, January.
    7. Dana R. Fisher & Sohana Nasrin, 2021. "Climate activism and its effects," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(1), January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    climate change; United Nations; demonstrations; global justice movement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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