Tribune. The most publicized climate mobilizations are undoubtedly the demonstrations of young people brandishing the slogan “Let’s change the system, not the climate”. For some of them, this commitment is extended through their participation in recently created activist organizations, such as Alternatiba / Action non violent COP21, Youth for Climate or Extinction Rebellion. As part of a research program on new forms of climate action, we carried out a qualitative survey based on 30 semi-structured interviews with Parisian and Marseille activists, and participated as observers in their demonstrations. and actions.
These young people committed to the climate share a common socialization to environmental issues. Indeed, they belong to a generation of eco-citizens made aware of climate issues by education programs for sustainable development taught in schools and supported massively by the associative fabric. This aspect, often underestimated in the understanding of their mobilization, explains their ability to assimilate and disseminate scientific analyzes and alerts.
Armed with this new knowledge, they project themselves into their future and give meaning to their political commitment through solidarity and environmental struggles. For two thirds of them, “The urgency to act” structure their speech. They militate in “horizontal” organizations and demand free, egalitarian speaking out, without representatives, that is to say a form of direct democracy. They update the modes of protest action and directly target the actors of economic and political power: unhooking of portraits of President Macron, occupation of the headquarters of multinationals, happenings, “flashmobs” in front of the National Assembly or town halls, artistic actions, sabotage of billboards, etc.
Contemporary challenge
These generational mobilizations bear witness to a renewal of political action. They reinforce and relay other forms of struggle (climatic trials, forums and calls from scientists, etc.). Their common point is to challenge the State in its protective role inherited from the period of the “welfare state”. Indeed, like other legal steps taken by mayors (such as that of Grande-Synthe), these mobilizations denounce the links of interest between the representatives of public power and the polluting lobbies; they condemn the inaction of the State to force it to really implement a climate policy.
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