Contesting aeromobility, constructing alternatives: the prefigurative politics of staying on the ground

Summary, in English

The concept of prefiguration has gained attention within environmental politics as a way to describe how everyday activism can enable transformation of unsustainable consumption practices, particularly around material necessities. Drawing on the case of Sweden’s flight-free movement, this article extends the research on prefigurative environmentalism to activism aimed at changing non-essential, yet culturally embedded, consumption practices. Through key informant interviews and document analysis, I show that prefigurative attempts to reduce flying go beyond finding more sustainable ways of travel, to experimenting with an alternative way of life where the need or desire for long-distance travel in itself is reconsidered. As such, the flight-free movement illustrates a form of prefigurative environmentalism focused on avoiding rather than merely replacing non-essential consumption. This analysis contributes to literature on everyday environmental activism by highlighting the importance of cultural change, rather than just material change, in attempts to prefigure low-carbon ways of life.

• Author: Sara Ullström
• Department/s: LUCSUS (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies); BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
• Publishing year: 2024-03-22
• Language: English
• Publication/Series: Environmental Politics
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2024.2328502
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Topic: Political Science
• Keywords: Everyday environmentalism; prefiguration; sustainable consumption; social change; flying less
• Status: Epub
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 0964-4016