Futuring Climate: Imaginations, Emotions and Aspirations

Climate anxiety currently dominates the collective constructions and perceptions of the present among numerous youth activists. Greta Thunberg's statement ‘I want you to panic’ is symbolic of this. Climate anxiety fuels dystopian ideas of a future characterised by deprivation and inequality, creating a planetary imagination that is not worth living in. The question of how liveable the future is characterises the activists of the climate justice movement. Climate anxiety and dystopian ideas are accompanied by feelings such as anger, worry, indignation and hope. It seems as if fearful emotions and imaginaries of the future characterise the perception and actions of activists just as much as hopeful visions of the future. What is the connection between the varying emotions of activists in the climate justice movement and what ideas of a ‘good life’ or socially just future characterise their attitudes and actions?

Based on mixed-methods research, the presentation analyse the emotions, attitudes and imaginaries of the future of climate justice activism in Austria. While sociological research focuses predominantly on emotions as an affective dimension, this presentation will combine theories on emotions and future sociology to investigate how emotions shape future imaginaries and aspirations. In doing so, the nexus between emotions and imaginations of a climate-just future becomes clear, and how emotions are strategically used to create a specific perception of the present and an imagination of the future.