"Klimaatdrammers" : the motivations of young dutch climate protesters

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THE MOTIVATIONS OF YOUNG DUTCH CLIMATE PROTESTERS

Michelle D.A. Hicks Student nr.:12491462

Thesis Supervisor: Michael Hameleers University of Amsterdam

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interviews were conducted. The results indicate that two different groups can be identified, with different motivations, perspectives and relationships to social media. On the one hand, those who are generally not politically interested or active, mainly go to the climate actions for social, experimental and collective identity purposes, and use social media instrumentally to gather protest information. On the other hand, those who are generally politically interested and active and are also more engaged with the issue and protests, see the protests mainly as a means to further a political agenda, and use social media instrumentally as well, but to a greater extent: not only to gather information themselves, but also to inform, mobilize and recruit their peers (the aforementioned group). Besides all this, the one thing all participants mentioned was that they felt that the issue of climate change was “the issue of their generation”, both in the sense that it would affect them most in the future and that they see it as their responsibility to solve the problem. The findings of this study give us new and important exploratory insights into what motivates increasingly younger people to become politically engaged in the climate action movement – and perhaps in politics more generally -, and what role social media plays in this process.

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(NRC, 2019). It started with the 16-year old Greta Thunberg in Sweden, who decided to skip school to protest climate change instead. Over the following months this became a global phenomenon, as teenagers took up a form of political participation that had formerly been considered adult-only. Reactions in the media and by politicians were varied, with some calling them ‘klimaatdrammers’ - ‘climate naggers’ - while others applauded their efforts to fight for their future (De Volkskrant, 2019).

It was particularly striking that such a young demographic took to the streets. Young adolescents have been participating in protest actions since the sixties, but this new phenomenon concerned a group not even yet eligible to vote (Jobs, 2009; NRC, 2019). This is surprising, as scholars have often emphasized the supposed decrease in political participation by young people in Western democracies in recent decades (Macedo, 2005; Dalton, 2008). Young citizens participating in politics is vital to any functioning democracy, so it is worth asking why are so many high school students partook in these protests? Do they specifically care about the issue of climate change, or are they more generally politically engaged? And what are their goals in joining the protests? Are these only instrumental-political or (also) an expression of identity?

It is not only important to ask why teenagers take political action, but also how they do so. Scholars have noted that for younger generations, in particular, social media “create new channels for young people to engage with civic and political issues outside the confines of traditional public institutions” (Lee, 2018, p 4095). Because of their supposed importance in politically engaging younger citizens, the role of digital media a s a means for (facilitating) protests is central to this paper

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specifically the media or people in power - which is often a delegitimizing reaction (Silova, Brezheniuk, Kudasova, Mun, & Artemev, 2014). Moreover, even when studying youth protesters themselves, the subjects of these studies have been young adults. Teenagers might very well have wholly different perspectives, viewpoints and motivations (Santibañez, 2018; Kyllönen, 2014). For example, their approach towards and perceptions of (social) media might be very different.

In addition, this qualitative study adds a much-needed inductive perspective to the research into online activism. To date, this has mainly been on the organizational and instrumental aspects of social media, instead of addressing the harder to grasp elements that can only be derived from people’s subjective experiences (Gerbraudo & Treré, 2015). In their analysis of collective identity in digital activism, Gerbaudo & Treré (2015, p.866) state that “the question of collective identity has also been marginalized due to methodological reasons: the scholarly fashion of quantitative ‘big data’ analysis has favored a neglect of qualitative analyses, the only ones capable of getting at the symbolic and cultural processes involved.”

This study aims to better understand these young climate protesters from their own perspective, by asking two questions: “What are the motivations of young Dutch climate protesters?” and “To what extent, and if so how, do social media play a role in both the mobilization of protest and in negotiating/cultivating a protest identity?” This will provide new and important insights into what motivates increasingly younger people to become politically engaged in this way. Is it specifically climate change which motivates them? Or are they more broadly politically engaged, and why? Do they behave as conscious political actors, who use political means instrumentally? And to what extent are they exressing their

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Sensitizing Concepts

The political participation of young people is a hot topic among both scholars and political commentators (Dalton, 2008). Many shcolars tend to be rather negative about the state of democratic citizenship among the young (Macedo, 2005). Others argue, however, that this view takes a too normative perspective based on a limited notion of good democratic citizenship. Dalton (2008), instead, argues that we should look beyond the traditional institutionalized and duty-based definition of citizenship (connected to ideals of adhering to social order). In that case, we see that participatory and non-institutionalized forms of

citizenship are actually thriving among younger generations (connected to ideals of solidarity and active participation in civil society and politics) (Dalton 2008; Marien, Hooghe;

Quintelier, 2010).

Instrumentality vs. self-expression

Dalton explains this shift as a result of an increase in “self-expressive values as well as the ability and desire to participate more directly in the decisions affecting one’s life” (Dalton, 2008, p.81-81). This refers to two underlying types of motivation for political action. First, the notion that such activities are a form of self-expression, through which participants construct and express their (collective) identity. Second, the idea that this engagement is instrumental and that participants use the most effective tools available to them to bring about social change. These two motivations are derived from more general theories about political participation that have been at the center of academic discourse for decades. (Klandermans, 2004).

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actually take action (Toka, 2006). Initially, it was often assumed that protest participants were simply irrational, discontent, emotional havoc-seekers. Soon, however, theories emerged that identified more rational considerations (Klandermans, 2004).1 The first theories emphasized instrumental goals, seeing political action as a means to accomplish long-term goals related to public policies and public goods (Toka, 2006). Later, scholars put forth the idea that

protesters’ goals could also be expressive (Jones, 2007).2

Expressive goals, such as

demonstrating your values or your group identity, are inherent in the political action itself and are gratified upon participating (Toka, 2006).

There is much discussion (accompanied by conflicting research), as to whether people and movements are at their core instrumental or expressive in their motivational mode (Jones, 2007; Hubert, 2017). Some scholars argue that there is always a smaller group in a movement that is motivated instrumentally (usually a more core group concerned with the organizational aspects), whereas the majority who eventually participates is motivated expressively (Tóka, 2006). Even though most scholars will concede that both instrumental and expressive goals always play some part, however small, in practice they treat the two modes as separate models for explaining political participation (Tóka, 2006).

The idea of expressive motivation has mostly dominated literature and research on youth protests (Klandermans, 2004; Jones, 2007; Hamlin & Jennings, 2011; Hubert, 2017). Scholars have posited that youth activism is a part of adolescent identity construction,

1_{Scholars still argue about the extent to which the decision to partake in a political activity is rational and}

conscious, and to what extent there are unconscious processes at play (…). This is an important question but beyond the scope of this paper. It is assumed that the reasons and perspectives the participants put forth in this study are indeed their motives for attending the climate protest(s).

2

Both instrumental and expressive notions of people’s motivation to participate in political action assume rationality and conscious decision-making.

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for a younger generation (Santibañez, 2018; Kyllönen, 2014). In the case of climate change this can even mean a global citizenship and identity (Kyllönen, 2014).

Beyond expression or instrumentality

The emphasis on expressive motivations implies an inability of young people to think about to use political action as a strategic tool, repkicating some of the ideas about the irrationality of protesters that earlier scholars tried to combat. These studies often lack a focus on critical factors, such as individual agency and political knowledge and learning, (Puggioni, 2018; Moeller & de Vreese, 2015; Kirshner, 2007). However, the idea that instrumental motivations are more legitimate than expressive ones, is also inherently normative.

Some scholars have moved past the idea that these two modes are mutually exclusive, or a helpful categorization in the first place (Klandermans, 2004; Dalton, 2008). Klandermans (2004), for example, combines several theoretical perspectives to reach a more nuanced, tripartite categorization of the major motivators for political participation: instrumentality (“movement participation as an attempt to influence the social and political environment”); identity (“movement participation as a manifestation of identification with a group”); and ideology (“movement participation as a search for meaning and an expression of one’s views.”). All three of these can co-exist and even strengthen each other, and may be influenced by the use of (social) media. (Klandermans, 2004, p.2).

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true not only for the individual, but also for the movement as a whole. A movement needs sufficient resources to mobilize people in the most effective way. Such ideas, although first presented in resource mobilization theory in the seventies, are now often neglected by the literature on protest and movement participation (Klandermans, 2004).

Eltantawy & Wiest (2011), among others, have recently revived resource mobilization theory to help explain the role of social media in modern protests. Although they

acknowledge that the theory has its flaws and is by no means sufficient to explain protest movements in itself, they note that “the increasing use of social media technologies in social movements presents an opportunity to re-examine the utility of resource mobilization in a contemporary context” (Eltantawy & Wiest, 2011, p.1207). They go on to argue that “because of their ubiquity and potential for communicating messages to massive, global audiences, social media technologies may be seen as an important, instrumental resource for collective action and social change.” (Eltantawy & Wiest, 2011, p. 1219).

However, others have emphasized that this is reductionist and social media should not be viewed as an isolated tool: rather, these platforms are embedded in the existing ecology, organization, information-supply, gatekeeping processes, collective identity formation, and political-economic aspects surrounding protest (Gerbaudo & Treré, 2015; Poell, 2014; Segerberg & Bennett, 2011; Tufekci & Wilson, 2012). In turn, other scholars argue that, instead of contributing to and existing within existing protest collectives “the traditional logic of collective action is being progressively overtaken by the logic of connective action, in which participation and engagement become highly flexible and personalized” (Gerbrado & Treré, p. 867; Bennett & Segerberg, 2013).

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opinion expression and activism mediates the relationship between overall social media use and protest behavior.” In other words, social media platforms act as “facilitators of direct political action” (Valenzuela, 2013).

Repertoire and social media

The ebb and flow of (protest) movements are not only influenced by the available resources, but also by the available repertoires. Repertoire can be defined as the whole of political actions available to a person or group, and various scholars have emphasized the role of repertoire in mobilization of citizens (Theocharis & van Deth, 200; Rolfe, 2005).

While all sorts of political action might be theoretically available to citizens, which actions are practically available and accessible to a group or an individual often differ can vary. Even more fundamentally, simply knowing that you can take a certain political action in the first place and how to do so, influences the repertoires you have at your disposal (Rolfe, 2005). In his repertoire of contention, Chares Tilly shows that people tend to use tactics that they are already aware of and familiar with, even in what might seem like a novel situation or crisis (such as the climate crisis), and this tendency makes it hard to adopt new forms of political action (Rolfe, 2005). Hence, a person or group’s available and accessible repertoire can play an important part in the decision to take political action at all, and what kind of political action.

Communication is essential in facilitating this, and some scholars theorize that social media might make repertoire innovation and expansion easier (Rolfe, 2005). However, Theocharis, Lowe, van Deth & García-Albaceted (2014) find, in their comparative content

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including available repertoires, nor was it used for calls for participation and to expand who participates.

Design

As this study is interested in the motivations of young climate protesters, it is based on in-depth interviews with eight young climate protesters aged 13-18. In fact, thirteen interviews were conducted to check for saturation, but no new information appeared after the eight interviews. Hence, to manage time more efficiently, the last four interviews were not transcribed, coded and used in the analysis of this study

This study opted for individual interviews as they were the best way to make the respondents feel at ease and talk about their motivations and experiences freely and in depth. This method also ensures that the ecological validity of the research will be high as the interviews resemble everyday conversation.

Every effort was made to make the interviewees feel at ease: for example, by starting out with a light-hearted conversation, or meeting at a location they felt comfortable in (often their home, through a Skype connection). The interviews consisted of questions drawn from the sensitizing concepts but are designed in such a way that there is openness to new ideas and concepts (see interview guide, appendix, I). In addition, the interviewer kept a notebook with memo writing, to inform herself. Next to incorporating new important information in the interview guide, the interviewer also asked the respondents about the interview and interview guide after each interview, so they could add any important information that mattered to them,

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software was used (ATLAST.ti) to code the in-depth information and apply a structure: the open coding list is also available to the reader (see appendix II)

Sampling

To reach the intended group of interviewees, purposive sampling and snowball sampling were used. The researcher first contacted young climate protesters from her own personal and professional network, who then referred her to other young climate protesters. While this method does not ensure a representative or random sample, it is the most logical and convenient in this case, as the target group is rather hard to reach and quite specific, and the aim of the research is not generalizability. Also, the researcher still sought to include a more diverse set of participants, by reaching out to participants in multiple different cities and towns in the Netherlands, and reaching out to possible participants outside of the political youth groups she was familiar with.

Eventually, the group of participants was a group from different locations all over the country, and half of the participants identified as male and half identified as female. Also, it included both otherwise politically active (beyond the climate issue) participants and otherwise not so politically active participants. This last group however was slightly smaller: both in the total thirteen participants interviewed, and in the eventual eight interviews used in this study (five can be seen as more generally politically active and three as otherwise not very politically active). However, in the excluded interviews with the participants who fit within this latter group, no new information or insights resurfaced (which was the same for the other group). Also, the political engagement differed slightly within these groups as well,

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Last but not least, it is important to note that in the politically active group, most participants were involved in the same or similar political groups, such as Dwars (the youth party of the Dutch Green Party). Even though this is to be expected to some extent, it is important to take into account whilst taking in the results that the perspectives of this group of participants might hence not be very diverse.

Results

Two groups can be identified among the interviewees, each with different motivations and uses of social media concerning the protests (see the comparative concept indicator models in figure 1 and 2). It is important to note that this should not be generalized to the whole

population of youth climate protesters. Rather, it provides an exploratory look at what different motivations and considerations of youth climate protest participants can be identified, as a starting point for future quantitative research.

Group 1: The Socially and Experimentally Motivated Protesters

The first group comprises those who are not more generally politically active or interested. As one participant noted: “I don’t really care for politics outside the climate issue”. They are specifically interested in the climate issue and active for this specific cause, albeit it to a limited extent and at a more superficial level. These participants indicated that they only or mainly participate in the bigger marches and strikes. They offered a number of reasons for this, mostly to do with accessibility (see figure 1).

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As one respondent answered as to why he chose to go specifically to a march as form of political action: “The march was the only thing I had heard of”. In fact, he only became engaged with the issue and interested in going to the march at all as a result of seeing the event on Instagram and hearing his peers talk about it.

Secondly, they emphasize that these marches are more easily practically accessible than other forms of protest: not only in the sense that these marches are held in places accessible by train, but participation also requires just a bare minimum of effort and

dedication to a cause. As a participant noted: “This was the smallest possible way for me to contribute”.

Thirdly, the participants noted that they also perceive the marches as accessible in that they are generally non-radical and peaceful, with a fun and laid-back ambiance, as opposed to other more radical protests that might end in an encounter with law enforcement: “I wouldn’t participate in a protest like they [more radical youth climate protesters] did lately, in which they glued themselves to the road. I think that’s too much. With a march on the other hand you can gain attention without having to do anything crazy”.

Finally, the decision of their schools to grant permission, or even allow for an organized group to go, also helped to make attending the strikes more accessible and less risky, although one participant mentioned she thought that was a “bummer”, as she was excited to skip school for the first time in her life.

As a result of the above, large numbers of people were interested in attending, making the effort feel worthwhile: “I knew a lot of people would be attending, so I knew it would be worthwhile and gain enough attention”. These protests were thus perceived as a more

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Generally, the practical considerations outlined above played a relatively large part in this group’s decision to participate. But they also had more intrinsic political or societal

motivations to join. However, compared to group 2, these participants generally formulated such motivations very abstractly and broadly, without reference to clear and specific

ideologies or policies. For example: “I just want people to become more aware” and “I want to make a change”. Overall, they felt like it was simply “the right thing to do”.

In addition, their intrinsic motivations seem to be largely social and experimental, rather than political. As one participant noted: “You feel kinda badass going on strike”. Indeed, experiencing something “new, fun and exciting” (as the participants described it) with peers, presented an enticing combination. In this group social pressure and fear of missing out (FOMO) played a substantial part in their decision (see figure 3).

Instagram also played a role in reinforcing this, according to the interviewees, with peers posting recruitment messages or their protest experiences. Some of them mentioned they felt like they were missing out when they saw their peers posting these things on Instagram: “People on Instagram were like, come with us […]. I felt like it’s fun, something you have to experience at least once”. However, most participants said that social media and other online resources (websites) regarding the marches, mainly had an instrumental function to gather information (see figure 2). Ultimately, conversations at school with peers were most important in actually reaching a decision to attend. As a participant noted: “I saw the message […] on Instagram […] and went to talk to my friends about it at school the next day, who had also seen the message, and then we decided to go together”. It appears that the message on

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mentioned for attending the strikes and marches. Both in the sense that they are the generation that has to deal with the consequences, but also in that they feel responsible to the next

generations to take action now.

Another major motivation they mentioned, was being part of a collective experience. As one participant noted, when answering the question why it was specifically a climate strike or march that attracted her as political action: “Because of the group feeling […] it just gives you a good feeling when you’re standing there with everyone […] and you’re all fighting for the same goal and that does create a collective feeling”.

Interestingly, they also noted that partaking in the protests actually made them more interested in the climate issue specifically and sometimes also in politics in general, even before going: “I became more involved with the issue (after seeing the event on Instagram). It was a spark in the beginning, like I felt like we have to do something about this, a wake-up call”. In most cases, they also changed their lifestyle as a result: eating less or no meat or being energy-conscious, for example, but also paying more attention to the news. A participant noted: “I try to pay more attention when watching the news now, like ok this minister did this and that. That’s good or bad. So I’m trying to be more involved”.

Even though they attested to experiencing less individual political agency than group 2, the climate protests did let them experience having political power both as a collective and individual. To put more precisely: They experienced having individual political agency through the collective. As one participant put it: “I’m not that important […] the collective is important […] but you decide to go yourself, so in that sense your decision is important for the collective”. They said participating in the actions also taught them that a protest can be an

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All in all, this otherwise not (very) politically active group seems to participate in the climate protests with a more expressive-oriented goal set. Or, using Klandermans (2004) taxonomy, identity and to some extent ideology play an important role in their motivations to attend. Specifically, the collective is important to them: both in whether or not to attend, and in the experience of attending itself. In addition, cost/benefit considerations play an important part in their decision. Repertoire accessibility is a crucial factor in this. The climate strikes and marches are a readily accessible repertoire (presented to them by peers directly or through social media, and requiring a minimal amount of effort and dedication), with a high “reward” (in this case, a lot of generated attention and an exciting, yet peaceful, event with peers). Social media plays an important instrumental part in this, helping them to become acquainted with the protest actions in the first place and informing them about it (see figure 3).

Group 2: The Politically Motivated Protesters

The second group are those who are politically interested and active in general, as demonstrated by their involvement with a number of societal issues and causes (besides participating in climate marches). They usually have been politically engaged for quite some time, since childhood or the beginning of puberty. Often, they note, this involvement began as a result of politically engaged parents: “I think I got it from my parents, they were also

politically aware and discussed what they read in the newspapers with me and we watched documentaries. Those kinds of things.”

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or other political organizations, clubs and groups. One participant had even run as a political candidate (you can also be elected and become a member of the municipality at age 16 in the Netherlands). Most of them had also participated in others forms of climate protest or other kinds of political action (for other causes), in addition to the climate marches and strikes: “I’ve participated in many forms of protest. From going door to door with a petition, drawing up a manifesto, to protesting in front of the parliament or civil disobedience actions”.

Those more involved with the organization also attested to using both traditional and new media in the organization and communication regarding these protests, with social media being the most prevalent and important. On social media, the organization released relevant information and tried to recruit peers, whilst peers also helped spread the message. Getting the message out via traditional media was a little more effortful. However, one participant noted that, with the help of a journalist, they learned how to write press releases and so gained easy and effective attention from traditional media outlets, both locally and nationally. In answer to the question why they still considered traditional media important, he explained: “With

newspapers and tv you reach another audience: the fathers, mothers and grandmas on the couch. Everyone watches the NOS news [the Dutch national news]. It’s a bigger, broader audience. With social media it’s more specific, people are more in a bubble, but you have more control over your message”. Their presence on social media was more directed at recruiting peers, whereas their message in traditional media was more directed at creating awareness amongst the general populace and starting a conversation.

As to the motivations of this group, they all mentioned they were very politically and intrinsically motivated, and most of them attested that they saw the climate issue as part of a

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they can make money from it, until they can’t get away with it anymore […] Climate change results from our capitalist system. Even if we stop climate change, it will manifest itself in a different harmful way, like wage slavery”.

Besides this, they often also or alternatively articulated the issue in a more pragmatic way, mentioned specific policies, and discussed the importance of listening to experts and scientists: “We need to invest more in scientific solutions to this problem” and “Stimulating corporations to transition to green energy is not enough. We need more radical policies like a CO2 tax”. A few of them also mentioned that this needs to happen in a way that does not harm vulnerable groups, or even said they see new climate policy as a way to tackle multiple issues at once: “Climate policy can also go together with effective social policy […]

investments to combat climate change can also be investments in people who are struggling economically”.

These participants said they view climate protests as an instrument to generate media attention and societal awareness, and to exert political pressure and so achieve political change. They view protest as an important form of political action that gets things done. As one interviewee emphasized: “By generating media attention you can successfully pressure politicians to take action”. Another mentioned the importance of continuing to take action: “By gaining media attention with every action the climate issue stays in the news and creates more awareness, it’s not like ‘oh that was a thing last week’, no, the climate issue keeps dominating the conversation because of the continuing protests, both bigger actions as the marches and strikes and smaller but more radical actions from for example Extinction Rebellion”.

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desired result of gaining media attention, this does not always translate into the goal of discussing what the protesters are actually protesting for, let alone achieving political change (which is in line with researchers documenting varying delegitimizing reactions to youth protests, see for example Silova, Brezheniuk, Kudasova, Mun, & Artemev, 2014). Even so, he noted, it could still mean people would at least think about the issue or start the conversation, whether it’s in the media or at a birthday party with your family (which is, as we all know, a great time to discuss politics), which could lead to political action eventually.

All of these participants said they would have gone to the protests regardless of friends going, although they did mention this helped and made it more enjoyable. They also noted they are surrounded by like-minded people, who are also very motivated and engaged, for example in the political youth parties. Thus, it can also be argued that the distinction between whether the decision is individual or collective is less clear-cut, as their political activities and social lives are intertwined. Nevertheless, most of them explicitly said it was an individual decision, and some of them also went on their own. They did, however, mention experience of collective belonging, and also felt a strong generational sense of collective urgency and

responsibility, much like group 1 participants noted.

Interviewees in this group also indicated that they are aware of strategy, public perception and how media can be used in this regard. This is a clear difference with the participants in group 1, who noted they were not aware of or busy with these aspects. This also has to do with a majority of the participants in group 2 being in some bigger or smaller way involved in organizing the climate actions. Notably, one participant was one of the organizers of the first climate marches in the Netherlands. Interestingly, these organizers often

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of them said he learned how to write press releases and coordinate with authorities.

Still, it is important to note that the organization was essentially anarchist in nature, as was experienced both by the participants who played a role in the organization and

participants who only attended the actions (in both group 1 and 2). As one participant noted: “Even though there are sort of leaders in name, it’s set up in an anarchist fashion”.

Participants said there was no clear hierarchical structure and no instructions (except basic information about for example the route) were given to attendees. This meant people with different messages from different political backgrounds or groups could broadcast their own sub-message, whilst also conveying the overarching message that climate action needs to be taken.

Some participants of group 2 also mentioned that they actively and consciously recruited their less politically interested and active peers (the first group mentioned), as well as younger people, whom they put at the front of the protest as a strategy. They consider social media as an instrument to convince and recruit peers to come to a protest. They did so mainly through Instagram, for example by posting information, articles, or sharing the protest experience. They also said they mostly use social media as an instrument to organize the actions and inform people. To engage less politically active peers they used Instagram, Facebook events, and sometimes Snapchat, whilst attracting peers with more political interest mostly occurred through WhatsApp groups, Telegram (a Whatsapp alternative) groups or Discord (an online communication platform) (see figure 2). One participant noted for example: “Instagram works well to activate people, like, you post a fun photo with the caption: join our movement”, another noted: “With Earth Strike [youth climate organization]

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befriended IRL, they mostly answered things like “I guess it’s important…”. They then went on to give it a sense of significance in the abstract sense of the word: “Erm,I think it’s

important to the group […] It creates connection and cohesion. If you don’t have that, you’ll be less active”, whilst at the same time indicating this that they themselves did not really experience a sense of collective identity online, rather they experienced this in real life: “Mmmm, yeah I mean if you’re at the protest for example you experience a group feeling”

Interestingly, most participants did not have a positive view of social media, and viewed it more as a “necessary evil”, than something to celebrate. They emphasized that person to person contact was still most important in activating people and that social media could make people complacent and detached. They did however mention that social media were very important to their movement, as they are a great tool for democratization of and accessibility to their movement, making easier to recruit and mobilize people.

At the same time, they were concerned with new people in the movement who have little knowledge about both the issue itself and about politics in general. As one participant noted: “Social media is positive in the sense that more people have a say and more people can participate. The problem however is that sometimes you get inexperienced impulsive people who can be lead on by politicians: for example Fridays For Future [a relatively new and young climate action group] […] cancelled their protest because they were invited by Mark Rutte [the Dutch prime minister] even though he didn’t grant them anything. […]

Organizations with more experience would have asked up front what he was going to offer them before cancelling their protest actions”.

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“I was disappointed that there were many children […] like 7-to-8-year-olds […] attending the protest who knew little about the climate issue. […]. I think that takes away some of the power of such a protest”. It seems that, even though this group actively recruits new peers and younger people, there is also some tension between these groups.

Finally, it is important to note that the motivations that played a role in the first group, also play a role in the decision to go for the second group: available repertoire (“I can’t go out and vote yet”), enough people showing up, the protest experience, being part of a collective of like-minded people, feeling political power, FOMO, permission from school etc. But in the end, these were things that merely aided or enhanced their motivation to go and improved the experience itself. They also emphasized that these things were more important for others to join, but that their intrinsic political motivations played by far the largest role in going for themselves. This is unsurprising as they attest to being more politically interested, politically active and politically motivated than the other group Additionally, it could also be argued that these social and (political-)experimental aspects played a much smaller role for this group, as they already experience these things more structurally within the political groups they already belong to.

All in all, this politically active group of participants seems to mainly attend climate actions for instrumental goals, even though ideology was also an important aspect to them. However, their ideology seems to be interwoven with their instrumental goals. In fact, these often seemed to be essentially one and the same thing to them, whereas the other participants did not have a coherent ideology but rather felt like it was important and the right thing to do.

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They are aware of strategy and besides informing themselves, they also actively inform, recruit and mobilize their peers (group 1) through social media (see figure 3). Still, also in this case, social media mostly seem to be a tool rather than something embedded within the

protest community and ecology. However, this does not make the use of social media in their movement any less important to them, even though they approach this use critically.

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important practicalities that were not intrinsic motivations to go, but rather were helpful in the decision to go. Generally, the motivations and considerations are ordered from most important to least important going down. However, in some cases there was not a clear hierarchy of importance, which was particularly the case concerning the practical considerations of group 1. The relative importance of the different motivations and practical considerations of the participants is elaborated on in the text.

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Figure 3 portrays the differences in decision-making between the two groups, as well as the interaction between the two groups and how this influences their decision-making. They are both dependent upon each other.

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“To what extent, and if so how, do social media play a role in both the mobilization of protest and in negotiating/cultivating a protest identity?”. The findings give us new and important exploratory insights into what motivates increasingly younger people to become politically engaged in the climate action movement, and the role of social media in this process.

Two different groups were identified, with different motivations, perspectives and relationships to social media. First, those who are generally not politically interested or active, mainly go to the climate protests for social, experimental and collective identity purposes. Second, those who are generally politically interested and active, see the protests more instrumentally, as a means to further a political agenda - although they also attest to the importance of a collective experience. It seems there is indeed a - probably smaller - instrumentally motivated group that concerned with the organization, while there is a -probably larger - group which is expressively motivated (see Tóka, 2009).

The one thing all participants have in common, is a feeling that the issue of climate change is ‘the issue of their generation’, both in the sense that it would affect them most in the future and that they see it as their responsibility to solve the problem.

Interestingly, both groups see social media as mainly instrumental and used it to be informed about the protest, while group 2 also used it to inform and recruit peers. For some social media plays a part in creating FOMO, which is arguably inherently about experience and group-belonging. This differed between the groups: participants in group 1 said feelings of FOMO played an essential role in their decision to go, whereas participants of group 2 said it was more a motivation to join more protests and become even more engaged.

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them, it stimulates complacency. Even though it is more democratic and accessible, it can also bring in people who are uninformed and/or inexperienced.

These findings imply that differences in citizenship and political engagement are not mainly or merely generational, with younger generations opting for non-institutionalized forms of political engagement. Rather, there are also significant differences within younger

generations, even those who seemingly belong to the same movement. This illustrates that people’s motivations to become politically involved are not necessarily generalizable, including the way they use (social) media in doing so.

However, simply grouping the otherwise not politically active participants in the expressive category and the politically active participants in the instrumental category would also be a false dichotomy. Group 2 participants’ ideology also played a central part in their movement participation, and group 1 participants also wanted to bring about some sort of change. Broadening the scope of motivations to a mix of instrumentalism, identity, and

ideology (Klandermas, 2004) might offer a better explanation. However, within the concept of ideology, Klandermans (2004) does not differentiate between simply wanting to express some of your values and ideals (like group 1 participants mostly do), and fighting for a bigger ideology you believe in and want to enact (which was a major motivation for group 2 participants). Ideology thus seems to be employed either more instrumentally or more expressively by different groups, and as some participants noted, this can also result in tensions. Indeed, it seems that for group 2 instrumentalism and self-expression are simply intertwined (even though from the perspectives of these participants themselves, it was very

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media. For these youth climate protesters, social media, even though some of them were not fond of it, played a key instrumental role in their movement.

Perhaps a different categorization is needed, in which the different facets of instrumentalism, identity, ideology, and their relationships with each other (including the possible tensions between them), and with media, are better explored and differences within the categories are recognized. It is important to take these differences in motivation into account, as they can inform us about what makes people become politically engaged and in what ways, helping us understand how citizenship develops (from a young age) and how our democracy can function effectively.

Normative implications

This study might seem to imply that the instrumental motivations of the politically active young citizens, are more legitimate than the more expressive motivations of the otherwise politically less engaged young citizens. However, expressing your values and your collective identity are all also important freedoms in a democracy. Also, joining the protests made them more interested and involved with the issue, and sometimes with politics in general. It also changed their behavior, making individual lifestyle adjustments. They may not subscribe to a cohesive ideology or “bigger” political plan (as of yet), but they still actively contribute in their way to a cause that is significant to them. The politically active, indeed, need the otherwise not politically active to join their protest action for it to be successful, and the otherwise not politically active need the knowledge of the politically active. This is how

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29 Limitations

As this study was explorative and concerned the perspectives of youth climate protesters themselves, the findings cannot be generalized. Besides this, the participants were not as diverse as desired, as the researcher used convenience sampling and snowball sampling. Even though aspects like gender and geographical location were quite diverse, the two groups identified in this study were not evenly represented in the sample, with slightly more politically active participants joining the study. Besides this being a possible result of the sampling process, this group is likely also more willing to partake in in-depth interviews about the topic. Although this might seem problematic, saturation was reached at some point, concerning the perspectives of both groups.

What might be more problematic is that these politically active participants were mostly part of the same political groups, and hence might have a specific perspective compared to members of different political groups. This over-representation of one specific subset of politically active youth protestors may have skewed the findings, with more in-depth and varied information on this one group. The question remains if this is not simply to be expected: young politically active people who are in the same movement will probably always have similar political associations. In that case, it would not be underrepresentation per se, but simply a characteristic of this group.

Last but not least, the categorization of the two groups might make it seem like the two groups are homogenous, whereas the participants all inhabit a different place on the spectrum of political interest, political participation, and being instrumentally and/or

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30 Future research

To further explore the meaning of these findings, we need more research. First of all, future (explorative) research should include a more diverse sample when researching these

questions. In addition, survey research is necessary to find out if the findings are generalizable across Dutch youth climate protesters. Next, future studies could examine the existence and characteristics of these two groups for other political (youth) protests movements and across other countries – to find out whether this is specific to this group, this country, and/or to the climate cause.

Another interesting question that derives from these findings, is to what extent available repertoire plays a role concerning both groups. Of course, group 1 participants emphasized that accessibility of the protests played a major role in their decision, whereas for group 2 participants this seemed to play a much smaller role. In fact, they were the ones often in control of the choice of repertoire, and were actively concerned with the repertoire being accessible and attractive to their peers. It would be interesting to research whether or not their choice of political action changes if their available repertoire changes over time - and in what setting and to what extent. For example, do they continue with political action outside

institutional politics, or do they switch to more traditional ways of exerting their citizenship and political engagement, because other repertoire simply becomes available to them when they grow older?

Besides this, more studies on the mechanisms of political learning as a result of political participation (as opposed to the other way around: political learning leading to

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31 The future of the youth climate movement

It is important to note that, whilst writing this paper, the situation has somewhat changed. The popularity of youth climate strikes and marches has declined (nu.nl, 2020). In light of the findings of this exploratory study, it is possible that group 1 participants, those who most likely form the largest group, have stopped going. Perhaps, because their motivations were mostly social and experimental, with excitement probably declining after having attended one or several times. At the same time, as they are very prone to others’ decision to join or not, a ripple effect may have followed that took away some of their core motivations to go. This would mean that this particular form of political engagement should perhaps be viewed more as a brief trend in time, the expression of a very specific cohort of adolescents for whom it was a first introduction to political activism and participation.

However, the idea that the engagement with the climate issue of this generation was merely a trend does not seem to fit with the one unified motivation that all participants noted: that the climate issue is the issue of their generation. It is their future at stake. It could also be that protest participants in general did not see enough results: the actions were not effective enough and their demands were not seriously considered. As some of the participants in this study noted, the reactions of media and politicians were often delegitimizing and not taking their requests and concerns seriously.

Of course, it could have also been a combination of both, or a whole other reason all together. Only time, and future research, will tell.

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Table of contents:

Appendix I: The Interview Guide

Appendix II: Coding List & Coding Report Appendix III: Interview Transcriptions

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Appendix I

I. Interview Guide Master Thesis Michelle Hicks

*For the reader’s convenience, this interview guide is provided in English. However, the interviews will be conducted in Dutch.

Aims of introduction

1. Explain the goal, recording and informed consent letter.

2. Goal: understanding the motivations of teenage climate protesters in the Netherlands 3. Why is it recorded: this interview will be recorded for research purposes

4. Hand them the letter of informed consent

Example introduction

Hey, my name is Michelle. I am doing a masters in political communication at the University of Amsterdam. As part of my master thesis I am interviewing young Dutch climate protesters such as you, to understand your motivations. I would like to thank you again for participating! If it is ok with you, I will be recording our interview for my research. If you are ok with this, I would like to ask you to fill in this form of consent. Thank you!

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38 How was your day so far?

Start of Interview

Starting question:

Could you maybe start with telling me something about yourself? (gender, age, education, other)

So, you’ve participated in the climate protests, I was wondering…

Topic Questions

Political interest and political knowledge

Goal: finding out if participant is generally politically interested or merely in the topic of climate change, and how come

Initial question: Are you only or mainly interested in the issue of climate change or are you interested or involved with other political issues?  If he/she is generally politically

interested:

 What sparked your interest in politics?

What are your other political interests? How important is the issue of climate

change to you in comparison to other issues?

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 How did you get to know about climate change?

 How do you view the issue?

Participation in protest(s): Why

Goal: Finding out why he/she decided to participate in the protest(s) instead of attending school, and why THIS form of protest

Possible components:

Individual political decision (political agent)

Protest as a tool

Contributing to political change Constructing a counter-narrative Self-expression

Collective identity, belonging (peers and peer-pressure), solidarity

Disregarding authority

Initial question: Why did you decide to protest climate change?

 What was your thought process in deciding to join the protest

yourself?

 Have you also participated in other protests?

 Why is this issue worth protesting for you?

 You had to miss class to join the protest, why did you still decide to go?

 What are you seeking to accomplish by joining these protests? What is your goal? Do you think this will be achieved? Will it be successful?  How did your own experiences with

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issue? Why were they not enough/why did you not employ them?

 Would you say your decision was an individual decision or a group decision?

 Why do you think so many

teenagers are joining the protests as opposed to (young) adults?

Participation in protest(s): How

Goal: Finding out how he/she got involved in protesting climate change and how they organize themselves

Possible components:

Political (youth) organizations Social Media

Face to face

Initial question: How did you hear about the first protest you went to? From whom and where?

Was this someone from your own network?  How are young climate activists

organized?

 How do they reach out to possible new protesters?

 Do you discuss strategy?

 Can you take us through one of the protests? What did you do before, during and after?

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social media in the protest(s)?  How important is this role exactly?

Did it/does it change the way you protest?

 What kind of platforms did you use and in what way?

 To what extent was there communication about the

practicalities and to what extent did you share content and

communication about the community?

 What difference does this make to you?/ What do you think about this?

 If it is not mentioned: I noticed you did not mention social media. With social media I am referring to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. but also something like WhatsApp. Did you use any of this in regard to

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How important is this role exactly? Did it/does it change the way you protest?

 Was there any communication about the practicalities of the protest or was there more content sharing/ communication about the

community?

 What difference does this make to you personally?/ What do you think about this?

Experience and political learning Initial question: How did you experience the protest?

 Were there things you specifically liked about it or didn’t like about it?  What did you learn from it?

 Will you attend climate protests in the future?

Perceptions of self and others Initial question: How do you see yourself when you are protesting climate change?

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Would you say your role is more active or passive?

What role does your age play, would you say?

 What impact does this have on you? What do you think about this? Initial question: How do you think others

see you?

 How did others close to you respond to you joining the protest?  How do you think others around

you see you?

 How do you think the

media/politicians/people in power/ other citizens see you?

What difference does this make to you?

End of interview:

Is there anything that’s not discussed that you would like to discuss? Do you have any other comments?

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44 Thank you for participating!

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Appendix II

Code List & Code report

Code Code Groups

○

NPIG_Activity_FollowClimateAccountForProtest The Specifically

Involved With the Climate Issue ○

NPIG_Activity_FollowNews The Specifically

NPIG_Activity_OnlineMedia The Specifically

Involved With the Climate Issue

○

NPIG_Activity_TalkWithFriendsAboutProtest The Specifically

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○

NPIG_Age_Negative_Backlash The Specifically

NPIG_Age_Positive_PowerfulPol.Message The Specifically

NPIG_ClassesMissed_WorthIt_MoreImportant_LongTerm The Specifically

NPIG_ClassesMissed_Yes The Specifically

○

NPIG_ClimateIssue_FirstEncounter_Parents The Specifically

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○

NPIG_ClimateIssue_GatewayToPolitics The Specifically

NPIG_Communication_Protests_Online_WhatsApp The Specifically

NPIG_DecisionToGo_Accessibility The Specifically

NPIG_DecisionToGo_EnoughAttention_BigCity The Specifically

○

NPIG_DecisionToGo_EnoughAttention_BigNumberofPeople The Specifically

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○

NPIG_DecisionToGo_FoundOutHow_Friends The Specifically

NPIG_DecisionToGo_FoundOutHow_News The Specifically

NPIG_DecisionToGo_FoundOutHow_SocialMedia The Specifically

NPIG_DecisionToGo_FoundOutHow_SocialMedia_Instagram The Specifically

○

NPIG_DecisionToGo_Group_Friends The Specifically

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○

NPIG_DecisionToGo_Group_Friends_SocialMedia_Instagram The Specifically

NPIG_DecisionToGo_Individual_AvailableRepertoire The Specifically

Involved With the Climate Issue ○ NPIG_DecisionToGo_Individual_MissedClass_MadeItExtraExciti ng The Specifically Involved With the Climate Issue ○

NPIG_DecisionToGo_Individual_MissedClass_WithPermission The Specifically Involved With the Climate Issue

○

NPIG_DecisionToGo_OnlyMarch_NotTooRadica. The Specifically

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○

NPIG_EffectivenessOfProtests_Gradual The Specifically

NPIG_EffectivenessOfProtests_Limited The Specifically

NPIG_FoundOutHow_Friends The Specifically

NPIG_Gov.Policy_Improving The Specifically

○

NPIG_GroupOrInd.Decision_Both The Specifically

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○

NPIG_ImmediateCircle_Supportive The Specifically

NPIG_IssueImportance_Climate_Most The Specifically

NPIG_IssueImportance_Climate_Most_MyGeneration The Specifically

NPIG_IssueImportance_Climate_Most_Urgency The Specifically

○

NPIG_Learned_ClimateIssue_LifestyleChange The Specifically

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○

NPIG_Learned_PeopleCare The Specifically

NPIG_LessonsLearned_ExpandingComfortZone The Specifically

NPIG_Lifestyle_NoPlastic The Specifically

NPIG_Lifestyle_Recycle The Specifically

○

NPIG_Lifestyle_SavingEnergy The Specifically

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○

NPIG_MissingClasses_WorthIt_MoreImpact The Specifically

NPIG_Organizational_Comm_SocialMedia_Informing The Specifically

Involved With the Climate Issue ○ NPIG_Organizational_Communication_InformationFound_Org'sI nsta The Specifically Involved With the Climate Issue ○

NPIG_Organizational_Critique_StrategicComm The Specifically

○

NPIG_Organizational_Involvement_AsResutOfProtest The Specifically

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○

NPIG_Organizational_Involvement_MostlyFollowsSocialMedia The Specifically Involved With the Climate Issue ○

NPIG_Organizational_Involvement_NotVeryInvolved The Specifically

NPIG_Organizational_Protests_PresenceOfPoliticiansImportant The Specifically Involved With the Climate Issue ○

NPIG_Parents_Convinced The Specifically

Involved With the Climate Issue ○ NPIG_ParticipateFutureProtests_MoreLikelyWhenLivingCloserB y The Specifically Involved

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○

NPIG_PerceptionofOthers_NotImportant The Specifically

NPIG_Policy_Improving The Specifically

NPIG_PoliticalActivity_EngageFriendsFamily The Specifically

Involved With the Climate Issue ○ NPIG_PoliticalActivity_Institutional_LocalGroup_Passive(FollwO nline) The Specifically Involved With the Climate Issue ○

NPIG_PoliticalActivity_ShareSocialMedia The Specifically