Articles

The contemporary political landscape in the EU, characterized by the decline of liberalism and social democracy (Krastev 2018; Guérot 2017) and the associated rise of populism, is mirrored also in Sweden. In a drastic policy shift, the formerly self-proclaimed climate frontrunner is suddenly experiencing broad climate policy dismantling and social backlash.

Protest actions, demonstrating, and the use of social media are often argued to constitute or support constructive contributions to democracy, active citizenship and participation. However, the role of social media in contentious politics and the positive characterisation of protesting for democracy have been impacted negatively with the sharp rise of populism and extremism.

This project will take a creative and open approach to imagining the futures of the forms, structures, and processes of power in human communities in order to expand sensing and sense-making in the present.

Around the world, democracies are grappling with a growing divide between movements calling for immediate and ambitious action on climate change, and populist forces that often oppose these transitions, portraying them as threats to economic stability, national identity or personal freedoms. How this tension plays out will have significant implications not only for sustainability, but for the future of democratic governance itself.