The New Generation of the Canarian Environmental Movement: Political Engagement, Activist Careers and Youth Activism

Environmental conflicts in the Canary Islands have been a constant since the consolidation of democracy in Spain, although there has been an intensification of protests after the pandemic. In this current cycle of mobilisations, a new generation of activists has taken on a prominent role. The aim of this research is to examine in depth the multiple forms that the political engagement of this new generation of activists is adopting. To this end, we draw on similar studies that have recently been carried out in other parts of Spain, as well as various studies from the sociology of social movements and youth in which a more diverse and individualised activist engagement can be observed. In this sense, our focus of interest is on activist careers, placing special emphasis on the articulation between the activist side and the rest of the dimensions of life. Thus, in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 activists under 35 years of age belonging to different collectives in the archipelago. Through an analysis of the discourse and after prior thematic coding, we can advance several provisional results. Regarding the initial stages, the presence of a narrative based on the self-generation of engagement in the discourses as well as geographical mobilities and the university stage as determining biographical crossroads stand out as distinctive features. Also noteworthy is the display of a more flexible engagement in which fluctuations abound, giving rise to two prototypes of activists: the ‘free electrons’ and the fluid militants. Finally, there is a nationalist or Canarist dimension impregnated with a powerful social discourse that distances itself from the environmentalist narratives on climate emergency in a global key. In short, this new generation of the Canarian environmental movement shows an activist engagement in line with the literature, although it is strongly inserted in the local context.