The Burden of Responsibility: A Testimony from the Global Climate Strike held on September 2023
My name is Daniela and I work as a research assistant and science communicator at the Planning with Youth project. I am 33 years old and, have a background in anthropology and an interest in the topic of social justice and what inspires political mobilization. At Planning with Youth, I have been responsible for running the interviews called “In Conversation with” published our project´s blog. During 2023 I have been interviewing young climate activists from around the world. The conversations I´ve had with these very engaged and inspiring youth have sparked some of the thoughts that are introduced in this blog post.
I’ve always found a great deal of hope when attending demonstrations. Meeting and marching together with a group of people who are affected by, and mobilized around the same topic as myself, can lessen the sense of loneliness and defeat that injustice can create. I come from Argentina, a land that is known to be very politically and economically tumultuous and with a political tradition of large demonstrations. Images of our multitudinous demonstrations (like the one for supporting the legalisation of abortion, or the ones to protest about “femicides” showing hundreds of thousands of marchers in the streets) have travelled around the world.
So, for me, being in a demonstration comes very naturally. It is a situation I feel quite familiar with. However, ever since I moved to Scandinavia some years ago, I haven’t had the chance to attend as many demonstrations. I believe that this is partly because there are objectively much fewer demonstrations happening than in my home country, but also that I am not as connected to a network of like-minded people as I was in Argentina. So, I might be unaware of many of the civil actions that are taking place in the city where I live, Stockholm.
On the 22nd of September, I decided to attend the global climate strike organised in Stockholm by Fridays for Future and other civil organisations. I was eager to witness a demonstration about climate action in Greta Thunberg’s hometown and capture the atmosphere of such an event. I also wanted to listen to many of the interesting speakers who were scheduled on that day. But also, and to be honest, I was seeking some remedy to my hopelessness in our present circumstances around climate change: the lack of action despite the incredible number of alarms ringing across the world showing that things are getting worse very fast.
When I arrived at the demonstration, I noticed that the scene was largely dominated by youth. This is not surprising considering the vital role that youth has taken in pushing for climate activism in recent years. Figures such as Greta Thundberg and the attendants of the School Strikes for Climate around the world have embodied the image of the fight against climate change. Besides young participants, I could see a number of elder citizens, many of them grouped around organisations such as “Grandparents for Future” or “Greta’s Gamlingar” (Greta´s oldies). And then I also noticed the small children: small children that later marched down the streets of Stockholm, holding hand-painted colourful signs urging for climate action.
In Argentina, people attend demonstrations alone, with friends or with their family and it’s very common to take small kids to demonstrations as they are safe places and part of our political upbringing. In this sense, the presence of kids in demonstrations is not unfamiliar to me and in general, I would absolutely think that it is a positive thing to bring kids to demonstrations as they are, in many ways, a school of civil engagement and democracy. This time though, looking at the kids in the global climate strike, I felt sadness. It actually broke my heart to see kids marching with signs saying that we need to start thinking about the planet we are leaving them.
Striking a balance
Is it strange to feel sad about kids being politically involved and active? Wasn’t I supposed to be a true supporter and believer of the strength and clarity that youth and kids bring to the table? How can I work on a project that is all about pushing for younger generations to be heard and involved in decision-making and at the same time think that kids shouldn’t be as involved politically? These questions followed me home after the demonstration and continued to unease me for some days. I don’t have answers to these questions, but here are some thoughts.
It feels unfair to think that in many ways, children and youth have been the driving force of climate activism on a global scale in recent years. This is especially unfair when we think that young demographics are not the ones who have caused this crisis. As we strive for a less adult-centred society that represents all its demographics, let’s remember that empowering youth doesn’t mean burdening them with the world’s problems. Creating a sustainable future is a collective responsibility. However, it is our duty as adults to ensure that the weight of that responsibility is distributed fairly across generations. Even though we all participate in society in different ways, adults still occupy all the places of power in society from which the systematic change that we so urgently need must come from. Kids, like Elise has commented, should have the right to be worrying about other things at this point.
Lastly, I also think that if we don’t show our young generations something to have hope for, we are signing them up for a school of democracy where nothing really matters, and nothing ever changes. What kind of hope can youth foster when the change we so urgently need remains elusive? What level of trust can they have in our democratic institutions when all they witness is a lack of care and responsibility? As people who have been on this planet for quite a few decades more than youth and children, it is primarily our own responsibility to secure a world that has something worth hoping for our children and youth.
