Political Representation Practice in Global Environmental Politics. Feminist Representation Theory and the Claims of Marginalized Youth Groups

ABSTRACT

The climate movement has mobilised unprecedented numbers of people to address the issue of climate change. Notably, this movement has seen significant participation from young people who, as they will bear the brunt of the climate crisis in the coming decades, have voiced the urgency of the situation. By representing the future, these young climate activists have made the effects of the climate crisis tangible and personal. Drawing on feminist and constructivist representation theory, this paper examines the role of representative claims about future generations by young people in global environmental and climate politics. In their interactions with fora such as UNFCCC meetings , young people often find themselves marginalised. Despite this relative powerlessness, I argue that through their descriptive claims to represent future generations, they have appropriated and reshaped the concept of intergenerational justice. This paper details the intricate interplay between marginalisation and representation experienced by youth-led environmental groups. It contributes to the conceptualisation of political representation as a discursive practice of future-making by marginalised actors in the context of global climate politics.

Acknowledgement

I am very grateful to the organisers of the workshop “Democracy and Practices of Global Order” at Humboldt University Berlin in July 2022, Christiane Cromm and Christian Volk. I would also like to thank all participants of the workshop for the inspiring discussion and excellent feedback on a previous version of my paper, specifically my discussant Anna Holzscheiter. Finally, I am very grateful for the great comments of the two anonymous reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.0014.TO

2 COP: conference of the parties/UNFCCC

3 https://www.boell.de/en/2022/05/28/international-environmental-policy-timeline

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Henrike Knappe

Henrike Knappe is guest professor and leads the research group Environmental Governance at the Technische Universität Berlin. Henrike Knappe’s research is focused on the democratic governance of socio-ecological transitions, environmental justice across different scales and the politics of sustainable and climate futures.