Diffusing Everyday Environmentalism: Understanding Local and Everyday Activism as a Means to Broad Social Change

Abstract

Whether called prefigurative politics, political consumerism, lifestyle politics, or grassroots innovations, local, everyday action forms are increasingly recognized as important solutions to environmental crises. However, their emergence has also triggered critical responses. Precisely because of their small-scale and particularistic nature, observers question the democratic potential of initiatives that often cater mainly the (already privileged) participants, while leaving questions of environmental justice untouched. Moreover, many doubt whether such small-scale actions have the potential of effectively fostering broader social change at all. Based on such critical reflections, there is growing interest in the conditions under which prefigurative strategies can ‘diffuse’ in order to advance broader social change, e.g. by growing in size or through replication, by triggering large, government or company supported projects, or by influencing public or corporate policy. In so doing, it appears that local, everyday action forms would have a greater potential for developing a just and effective answer to environmental crises. To diffuse or not to diffuse is however not a straightforward strategic decision since it often implies dilemma’s regarding, inter alia, professionalization, identity, strategic tradition, and political trust. This panel welcomes papers that engage with questions relating to scaling up and the associated dilemmas. What is the role of diffusion within various types of everyday environmentalism? Why is diffusion considered? Why not? What dilemmas do collectives face in this regard? How are these dilemmas addressed, and what are effective strategies in this regard? Scholars from various disciplines of social science are invited, including social movement studies and sustainability studies. The aim is to bring together various approaches to advance the debate on this critical question for contemporary environmentalism.