In resisting climate change, to what extent can lifestyle forms of activism be considered to be political, especially when compared to claim-based forms of action? What are their determinants and to what extent do they differ from the determinants of other forms of action? What role do generational factors play? Does the centrality of lifestyle changes for young participants translate into a disaffection towards more traditional forms of action? This article explores the forms of action adopted by participants in two Fridays For Future (FFF) strikes, focusing on the repertoires of action and lifestyles of (young) climate justice protesters. While FFF does not only involve young people, it is a movement in which the youngest generation in society plays a leading role. We draw on protest survey data covering the FFF demonstrations held in 15 European countries in March and September 2019. Starting from a sharp generational contrast between the importance given to individual lifestyle changes in addressing the climate emergency, we investigate whether this results in significant generational differences in the choice of the repertoires of action. Challenging the vision of young people as 'disaffected citizens', it is demonstrated that young activists do not participate less in political, claim-based forms of action than older cohorts. Furthermore, a process of politicisation can be seen to be unfolding that leads to increased commitment in both lifestyle and political forms of participation-at least among active milieus.
Understanding conflict dynamics among individuals and within society, and devising appropriate intervention strategies offer a relevant perspective for the prevention of radicalization processes. The article outlines an overview of some concrete instruments of analysis and intervention in microsocial conflicts, with special reference to family. We choose as a starting point the notion of “conflict capability”, the ability of human beings of appropriately handling conflict.The model presented here is based on a systemic understanding of social conflict and a transformative approach to foster human capabilities, and specifically women, of dealing with conflict. Friedrich Glasl’s “escalation model” offers a solid foundation in order to define conflict dynamics which is crucial for devising appropriate, context-specific interventions. For the family and microsocial context, we propose as intervention tools empathic communication and “problem solving without losers” proposed by Thomas Gordon, as well as a “systemic transformative” approach to mediation. The article also reflects on the importance of conflict capability in order to reinforce the practice of democracy, building on the contribution of authors such as Chantal Mouffe and Axel Honneth.
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