Bringing the future into the present: the notion of emergency in the youth climate movement

In 2019, after decades of attempting to raise awareness of the need to take action, the climate movement saw a surge in its ability to mobilize citizens and influence the political agenda. A younger generation leading the movement has given renewed vigour to the movement¿s discourse by emphasising t...

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Authors: Soler-i-Martí, Roger; Fernández Planells, Ariadna, 1983-; Pérez-Altable, Laura
Format: Article
Status:Accepted version
Publication date:2024
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repository:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/61219
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/61219
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2022.2123312
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Fridays for future
Social media
Youth
Emergency
Future
Climate movement
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author Soler-i-Martí, Roger
author2 Fernández Planells, Ariadna, 1983-
Pérez-Altable, Laura
author2_role author
author
author_browse Fernández Planells, Ariadna, 1983-
Pérez-Altable, Laura
Soler-i-Martí, Roger
author_facet Soler-i-Martí, Roger
Fernández Planells, Ariadna, 1983-
Pérez-Altable, Laura
author_role author
collection Repositorio Digital de la UPF
description In 2019, after decades of attempting to raise awareness of the need to take action, the climate movement saw a surge in its ability to mobilize citizens and influence the political agenda. A younger generation leading the movement has given renewed vigour to the movement¿s discourse by emphasising the need to act immediately by expressing the idea of emergency. This article suggests that this notion, one that is central to the current youth climate movement, includes an acceleration of time and a discourse based on hope. These ideas have worked as an activator of action complementing or nuancing narratives about future and climate change. The analysis of the discourse of Fridays For Future Barcelona on social media (Twitter and Instagram) with a mixed methods approach shows first the centrality of the notion of emergency in the public discourse of the movement and its role in making the future seem not so distant. Secondly, it shows how the use of emergency speech is linked to a positive view of the future and to a generational discourse. And, finally, it has been detected that using emergency speech together with references to a hopeful future increases the impact of the movement¿s social media posts.
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
format article
id ES_7a983af54dedcfe8809e2f9d7ee5cf21
institution Universitat Pompeu Fabra
instname_str Universitat Pompeu Fabra
network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
oai_identifier_str oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/61219
publishDate 2024
publishDateSort 2024
publisher Taylor & Francis
publisherStr Taylor & Francis
reponame_str Repositorio Digital de la UPF
spelling Bringing the future into the present: the notion of emergency in the youth climate movement Soler-i-Martí, Roger Fernández Planells, Ariadna, 1983- Pérez-Altable, Laura Fridays for future Social media Youth Emergency Future Climate movement In 2019, after decades of attempting to raise awareness of the need to take action, the climate movement saw a surge in its ability to mobilize citizens and influence the political agenda. A younger generation leading the movement has given renewed vigour to the movement¿s discourse by emphasising the need to act immediately by expressing the idea of emergency. This article suggests that this notion, one that is central to the current youth climate movement, includes an acceleration of time and a discourse based on hope. These ideas have worked as an activator of action complementing or nuancing narratives about future and climate change. The analysis of the discourse of Fridays For Future Barcelona on social media (Twitter and Instagram) with a mixed methods approach shows first the centrality of the notion of emergency in the public discourse of the movement and its role in making the future seem not so distant. Secondly, it shows how the use of emergency speech is linked to a positive view of the future and to a generational discourse. And, finally, it has been detected that using emergency speech together with references to a hopeful future increases the impact of the movement¿s social media posts. Taylor & Francis http://hdl.handle.net/10230/61219 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2022.2123312
spellingShingle Bringing the future into the present: the notion of emergency in the youth climate movement
Soler-i-Martí, Roger
Fridays for future
Social media
Youth
Emergency
Future
Climate movement
status_str acceptedVersion
title Bringing the future into the present: the notion of emergency in the youth climate movement
title_full Bringing the future into the present: the notion of emergency in the youth climate movement
title_fullStr Bringing the future into the present: the notion of emergency in the youth climate movement
title_full_unstemmed Bringing the future into the present: the notion of emergency in the youth climate movement
title_short Bringing the future into the present: the notion of emergency in the youth climate movement
title_sort Bringing the future into the present: the notion of emergency in the youth climate movement
topic Fridays for future
Social media
Youth
Emergency
Future
Climate movement
topic_facet Fridays for future
Social media
Youth
Emergency
Future
Climate movement
url http://hdl.handle.net/10230/61219
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2022.2123312