In Germany, the Last Generation emerged as a new climate activist group at the end of 2021. The group is considered rather controversial due to their contested protest actions of for instance vandalizing artwork. This study examines the influence of their controversial protest actions on the online climate debate on Twitter, compared to actions of Fridays for Future Germany, which enjoy a less contested reputation. The three chosen activities per group were analyzed with the help of a case study approach using content and sentiment analysis. The analysis was then conducted based on the three following concepts: deliberation, on the one side, which fosters constructive debates, as well as communitarianism and liberal individualism, on the other side, which can foster polarization. The analysis revealed that polarization dominated the online climate debate generated by the posts of the two groups. As such, hostile attitudes, condescending language, as well as monologic statements fostered communitarianism and liberal individualism within the comment sections of the Twitter posts. Yet, also deliberation was visible, but to the greatest extend within the comment section of a non-controversial activity of Fridays for Future Germany. This, among others, led to the conclusion that the protest actions of activist groups do have an influence on the climate debate. As such, the controversial activities of both groups influenced the climate debate in so far as the debate shifted from the climate debate to the activity itself by for instance focusing on child protection instead of climate change/protection. This was supported by the use of negative sentiments expressed explicitly towards the action of the group(s).

Med en växande oro för klimatförändringar har aktivister världen över protesterat mot makthavarnas bristande hänsyn till klimatproblemen. Klimatrörelsen har inte lyckats påverka det internationella, nationella och lokala miljö- och klimatarbetet i den omfattning som rörelsen ser som önskvärd. I denna studie undersöks miljöintresserade unga vuxnas attityder till och deltagande i klimataktivism. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med åtta universitetsstudenter inom miljövetenskap och internationella relationer som alla har uttryckt ett starkt intresse för klimat- och miljöfrågor. Analysen har fokuserat på informanternas värderingar, upplevelser av olika känslor samt upplevelse av social identitet för att förstå vad som ligger till grund för attityden samt deltagandet i klimataktivism. Tre huvudteman identifierades utifrån intervjusvaren: “En önskan om att göra världen bättre”, “klimataktivism borde ej behövas” och “den ouppnåeliga aktivisten”. Resultatet visar att det finns en stor önskan om att göra världen bättre och att aktivism som metod sågs mycket positivt på. Däremot uttrycktes liten vilja till att själv delta och vara klimataktivist på grund av (1) bristande tilltro till effektiviteten i klimataktivismen, (2) att aktivism sågs som en relativt extrem aktivitet och (3) att utövarna upplevdes svåra att identifiera sig med. Sammanfattningsvis har studien medfört en ökad förståelse för miljörörelsen ur en synvinkel som sträcker sig från akademin in i dagens aktivistiska ickevåldsrörelse. Bland studiens deltagare fanns en idealistisk vilja att rädda världen, frustration kring ansvar och interna motsättningar kring attityd och identitet en dualistisk uppfattning om aktivism och en tveksamhet i att delta. / Growing concern about climate change causes activists worldwide to protest against the governing authorities' lack of regard for the Earth's climate. The climate movement has not succeeded in influencing international, national and local environmental work to the extent that the movement sees as desirable. In this study, we investigate environmentally interested young adults' attitudes towards and participation in climate activism. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight university students in environmental science and international relations, who all have expressed a strong interest in climate and environmental issues. The analysis has focused on the informants' values, experiences of different emotions and experience of social identity in order to understand the basis for the attitudes and participation in climate activism. Three main themes were identified based on the interview answers: "A desire to make the world better", "climate activism should not be needed" and "the unattainable activist". The result shows a great desire to make the world better and that activism as a method was viewed very positively. On the other hand, the interviewees expressed little desire to participate and be climate activists themselves due to (1) a lack of faith in the effectiveness of activism, (2) that activism was seen as a relatively extreme activity and (3) that its practitioners were difficult to identify with. In summary, the study has led to an increased understanding of the environmental movement from a point of view that extends from the academy into today's activist nonviolent movement. Among the participants in the study, an idealistic desire to save the world, frustration about responsibility and internal contradictions about attitude and identity created a dualistic perception of activism and a hesitancy to participate.

In this paper, I make use of the game-theoretical concepts of cartel theory and coordination theory via salience and Schelling points in order to assess the viability of prefigurative politics when used by group actors to address the particular case of the climate crisis. I show that prefigurative politics as a strategy faces significant systematic disadvantages when used by social movements attempting to address climate change as compared to when it is used by social movements focused on other causes. These disadvantages are based on two factors: lack of motivation and a difficulty of coordination. In order to illustrate this point, I compare the situation for contemporary climate movements to a case example of the Montgomery bus boycott of 1957, showing how cartel theory worked in the favour of the civil rights movement, and how salience was crucial for the fast mobilisation of the African American community of Montgomery.