Contemporary Climate Movements: Ecological Radicalism, Extremism, or a New Wave of (Eco)Terrorism? A Case Study of Just Stop Oil and Letzte Generation Organizations
Contemporary Climate Movements: Ecological Radicalism, Extremism, or a New Wave of (Eco)Terrorism? A Case Study of Just Stop Oil and Letzte Generation Organizations

Summary/Abstract: In today’s world, among other environmentalissues, the problems of anthropogenic climatechange and the fear of a “climate catastrophe” havebeen the central focus of contemporary discourse.This has compelled most governments to makeefforts to reduce the use of fossil fuels in the energyindustry and beyond. Information about the rapidpace of climate warming has simultaneously be-come a source of social unrest and radicalization.This is evident in popularising movements suchas Fridays for Future, Youth for Climate, ClimateStrike, Youth Strike for Climate, Extinction Rebel-lion, etc. One of their key demands is the virtuallyimmediate and drastic reduction of greenhousegas emissions by all countries worldwide. In theirefforts to promote their agenda, these organiza-tions are increasingly resorting to methods rem-iniscent of the history of extreme environmentalmovements. These methods include blockingtransportation and transmission infrastructure or engaging in increasingly bold attempts to destroyproperty, including unique works of art. In thisarticle, as a case study, we will explore the activitiesof two organizations, Just Stop Oil (JSO) andLetzte Generation (LG), to determine whetherthe activities of contemporary pro-environmentalmovements exhibit signs of radicalism or environ-mental extremism. Additionally, we will examinewhether their actions can be considered analogousto ecoterrorist actions of the past. As part of ourresearch, in addition to the case study, we alsoutilized the desk research method. We analyzedacademic publications on extremism and terrorismand used the content of the JSO and LG websitesas well as media reports on their current activitiesas source material.

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