If people don’t like it: resistance, backlash and counterstrategy

Transitions do not come about easily and attempts to transform governance towards sustainability are likely to face opposition. This chapter takes a closer look at resistance, backlash and counterstrategy. The idea of a transition, the underlying problem that is defined, the chosen transition goal, the strategy or tools, or the role of the government in that transition can all trigger resistance. Resistance can lead to backlash, then counterstrategy, but all other patterns and orders are possible. We discuss the all-too-common features of governance systems that can undermine transition strategies by undermining trust in governance, in science, in the possibility of dialectical learning, and in deliberation. If few realities are shared, dramatically changing reality through transition strategy is a non-starter. Psychoanalysis enters our analysis of transition strategy one more time, to emphasize the complex relation between arguments, stories and feelings, between what comes to look real and what feels real. It is argued that transition strategy, because of its nature, discussed in previous chapters, risks polarizing narratives and affects, triggering overly positive as well as overly negative projections, as both fear and hopes are easily ignited.