A_07 Ecological Transformation and Anti-Democratic Crisis Mobilization

Sections:: Jena
Disciplines:: Sociology , Political Science
Belongs to:: Political participation between voice and exit (A: Politics of Democratic Cohesion)

Abstract

In the context of the climate crisis, anti-democratic positions and far-right actors are gaining significance and power. What dangers does this pose for socio-ecological transformation and democratic cohesion?

The climate crisis necessitates changes in modes of production, consumption, and everyday life. These changes can provoke feelings of disadvantage, profound uncertainty, and defensive reactions. Far-right actors exploit such reactions to mobilize opposition to climate policy. Their populist crisis narratives and policy proposals are gaining increasing traction in society. This not only complicates agreement on and implementation of climate protection measures but also endangers social cohesion. Their arguments and strategies resonate particularly strongly in regions affected by deep structural transformations, where resistance often manifests in protests against climate protection measures.

Against this backdrop, the work package investigates patterns of argumentation, actors, and forms of protest opposing climate protection measures, as well as their consequences for politics and society. In doing so, it takes up the guiding question of the research area: How do certain forms of political participation and polarization threaten social cohesion?

To address this question, protest events are monitored and their media (self-)representations analyzed. In addition, the researchers evaluate social media data and conduct interviews with actors from politics, business, and civil society. The work package places a regional focus on Central Germany and the federal state of Thüringen, which has been particularly affected by structural change.

Transfer Activities

The work package is strongly transfer-oriented. It integrates impulses from civil society, politics, and the media and promotes intensive exchange. The aim is to jointly develop courses of action. In addition, the researchers are available for interviews, background discussions, events, and educational activities.

In this work package (WP), a comparative analysis is conducted of how the transformation of production systems, the expansion of renewable energy, and the regulation of ways of living and consumption are used for anti-democratic protest mobilization against climate policy and socio-ecological transformation. The guiding research thesis is that anti-democratic positions and anti-democratic, far-right actors are gaining interpretive and agenda-setting power in the context of the climate crisis and socio-ecological transformation.

We investigate the extent to which this development endangers not only the transformation process itself but, above all, democratic cohesion by fostering alienation from democratic institutions and values and by impairing the stability of the democratic system.

In the face of widely shared feelings of insecurity, negative assessments of transformation processes, and societal developments perceived as crisis-ridden, anti-democratic, far-right actors put forward radical, populist crisis narratives and policy proposals directed against ecological societal transformation. As a result, the negotiation of a societal consensus for effective climate protection risks being made more difficult or even rendered impossible. Especially in regions strongly affected by structural change, our assumption is that the growing interpretive and agenda-setting power of anti-democratic actors will be reflected in increasingly successful protest mobilization in the coming years.

Within the WP, we analyze, on the one hand, the patterns of argumentation, forms of agitation, and actor networks of regional and supra-regional protests against climate policy and, on the other hand, the consequences of this mobilization for democratic cohesion. The aim is to gain insight into whether and how, in the context of resistance to political measures and institutions (voice), additional population groups turn away from democratic norms and principles (exit), thereby progressively eroding the foundations of democratic cohesion. In this regard, we focus on two processes:

1) the adoption of anti-democratic, far-right ideological elements and practices by actors beyond the explicitly right-wing extremist spectrum; and
2) the emergence of new, cross-milieu cooperations and constellations of actors.

At the same time, the WP also examines the effects of anti-democratic protest mobilization and ideological dissemination on climate protection (policy), political room for maneuver, and civil society engagement. This includes, for example, the extent to which cooperation or personal overlap between local anti-wind power initiatives, local voter associations, and anti-democratic, populist actors influences voting behavior in municipal parliaments, the public opinion climate regarding climate protection, and collective will formation at the local level. Harassment of and attacks against climate protection activists are also taken into account. Thus, in addition to attitudes, we analyze actions (forms of protest such as demonstrations, rallies, strikes, threats, violence, etc.) and relationships (citizens’ initiatives, protest alliances, and other formal and informal forms of cooperation) as further dimensions of cohesion.