The climate movement and the meaning of sustainability in the Anthropocene

The climate movement has been gaining prominence in global climate politics since 2019. Research has been growing on the main features of its public speech along with its sociological and organizational characteristics. Yet we lack systematic analyses of the normative implications of this public speech to provide a thorough explanation of this political phenomenon. Applying discourse analysis, I identify and rationally reconstruct a set of categories and metaphors that activists use to make sense of the climate crisis. When it comes to advancing the politics of sustainability, I argue that although the climate movement promotes ecologically grounded, far-sighted, and integrated sustainability, it still embraces closed and static understandings of this concept. The paper advances the discussion on the contribution of global activism to deliberative climate politics and governance beyond national borders.