Lise Benoist: Far-right environmental activism? Ecology, resistance and the "local"

Beskrivning:

“Far-right environmental activism” might sound like an oxymoron. Yet, while the far right is overwhelmingly associated with climate denialism and the defence of fossil capital, some far-right actors have acknowledged the reality and urgency of ecological (and climate) crises. Integrating these issues into their political agenda, they propose and promote what real environmentalism should entail. In France, this has primarily converged into the defence of ‘localism’ as a solution to a multifaceted ‘globalism’, consequently promoting nativist (re-)rootedness in place (ethnically, economically, politically) as a precondition to effective environmental action. While the literature on the political ecologies of the far right has brought about precious insights on the ideological underpinnings of far-right environmentalism, little is known about the actual practices that result from far-right environmental discourses and strategies, nor about the activists who take part in such organising. So, who are far-right environmental activists, what are they actually doing, how and why? Drawing on ethnographic research on far-right extra-parliamentary activist groups in France, I will present some preliminary results to these questions, with a particular focus on the conceptualisations, articulations and mobilisations of place and ‘the local’. In other words: how is far-right environmental activism taking place but also using place?

Lise Benoist presents herself: I am a PhD student in Human Geography, with a background in Human Ecology from Lund University. My thesis project examines the phenomenon environmental activism in far-right groups in France. More specifically, I analyse the conceptualisations, articulations and mobilisations of place in such discourses and practices, primarily based on interview material. More broadly, I am interested in the role of environmentalism and ecological issues in the contemporary appeal for neofascist politics.

Seminariet hålls på engelska