Intergenerational cleavages and environmental politics: The interplay between postmaterialist values and cosmopolitanism in shaping young Europeans’ support for environmental issues and environmental activism

Recently, important new research has emerged to explain the large intergenerational cleavages in values and political preferences, as illustrated for instance, by the overwhelming opposition of younger voters to both the election of Donald Trump in the US and their rejection of Brexit in the UK. In most established democracies (and many newer democracies), young people are more likely to possess postmaterialist values and are much more cosmopolitan in their outlook (socially liberal, accepting of cultural diversity and outward looking) than older generations. They tend to reject mainstream electoral politics and authoritarian-nationalist forms of populism in favour of alternative, progressive political parties and movements. Although there is a considerable body of existing literature that examines the rise of postmaterialist and cosmopolitan values, there is little work that focuses on the relationship with the prioritisation of environmental issues and environmental activism. In this paper, we use data from the European Values Survey to explore the connection between postmaterialist and materialist values, and support for environmental issues and environmental activism across ten democracies. Whilst the survey data predate the recent school Strike 4 Climate movement, findings demonstrate a clear connection between postmaterialist values and environmental politics amongst young people in general and amongst particular segments of the youth population in particular (young women, younger "young people").