This page was created for the participants in one of our Climate Conversations. These notes represent the personal thoughts and feelings of participants in that conversation. Responses are edited for clarity and anonymity. They aren’t fact-checked so there may be errors and inaccuracies.
What’s your experience of social movements?
“I’m involved in Make Votes Matter, a group that campaigns for proportional representation. Is it a social or a political movement? Is it an organisation or a movement?”.
“I’m in the Green Party, but that’s a political party”.
“I was in XR. It was hard to find my place. You had to take on a lot to be involved. I found it chaotic, but they still got things done. It being bottom-up and democratic was good, but also hard and made it chaotic”.
“Friends of the Earth isn’t a social movement. But when did it start? When does a social movement become a charity or organisation?”.
“Why am I not involved in more social movements? Time and keeping the momentum going”.
“My experience is limited”.
“XR is the one thing that got me close to a social movement. It was chaotic. That was a good thing, but might also have been its downfall. A non-hierarchical structure makes decisions difficult. It was also amazing. There were interesting personalities. The membership changed while I was involved, from young to old. It was amazing seeing people take time out of their lives for XR”.
“I went on the Stop the War marches”.
“I joined the Green Party. Although it’s a political party not a social movement”.
“I need to actively reach out and make connections”.
“I’m only watching rather than being involved in organising”.
What is a social movement?
(These are our ideas not an ‘official’ definition)
“Nigel Farage and Reform don’t feel like a social movement”.
“The Green Party is a political party, but they go beyond party politics”.
“Are anti-vax and anti-climate conspiracies social movements?”.
“A social movement is something that will determine how society is”.
“A social movement is organised around an issue – does it have to be big or can it be small?”.
“Astroturfing makes me sceptical”.
What’s the benefit, for us, of being in a social movement?
“On the Planet Critical podcast, the podcaster talks about the importance of human interaction. A lot of social interaction has been lost since the pandemic”.
“Knowing I’m not the only one”.
“Thinking about what incels get out of it:
- They get community.
- Lonely young men.
- It validates their grievances and prejudices.
- We need to beware of being in our own bubble with people who think like us.”.
“It helps me not to feel so hopeless. I feel like I might make some sort of difference”.
“It’s an antidote to being atomised and vulnerable to algorithms and individualism”.
“We might actually change society!”.
What do you think or feel at the end of this conversation?
“I didn’t know what to expect from this one – it was good”.
“I feel really good talking about having found a place”.
“I don’t know if the things I’m involved in are really social movements, but I’m grateful to be doing something”.
“It made me feel more motivated”.
Learn more…
Listen to what Erica Chenoweth has to say about what makes some social movements successful:
Pod Save America, The 3.5% rule that could bring down Trump’
Read four case studies of social movements in the UK:
Runnymede Trust, Making Change: What Works?