Joost De Moor
Biographic Data
| ID | 277399 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Joost De Moor |
| GIVEN NAMES | Joost |
| FAMILY NAME | De Moor |
| SIGNATURE | DE MOOR J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Stockholm University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0413-9590 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 270 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Toward a problem-centered approach to social movements: The case of European climate activism
This paper addresses a significant gap in social movement theory by introducing a “problem-centered approach” to understand how the nature of problems influences collective efforts to address them. Traditionally, social movement theory has focused on how movements frame problems and navigate issue-specific opportunity structures. However, I argue that the nature of the problems movements seek to address also matter outside how they are understood…
Introduction: What Moment for Climate Activism
Since late 2018, the world—Europe, Australia, and North America in particular—have seen a great wave of climate activism. Extinction Rebellion (XR) and Fridays For Future (FFF) in particular brought a large number of (new) climate activists into the streets, until the pandemic brought the mobilization to a halt. The contours of this mobilization have already been described elsewhere (de Moor et al. 2021). Here, we focus on understanding its signi…
Vulnerability and activism in urban climate politics: An actor-centered approach to transformational adaptation in Malmö (Sweden)
Climate change adaptation is rising on the agenda of cities. However, critics have argued that urban adaptation efforts largely focus on preserving economic growth while overlooking the root causes of unequal vulnerability to climate impacts, giving rise to climate injustices. In response, literature on transformational adaptation has politicized these issues but it has remained largely conceptual, particularly in relation to the question of whic…
Postapocalyptic narratives in climate activism: Their place and impact in five European cities
As climate movements are growing around the world, so too is a postapocalyptic form of environmentalism. While apocalyptic environmentalism warns of future catastrophe in case of inaction, its postapocalyptic sibling assumes that catastrophe is already here or unavoidable. Here I explore the overlooked strategic implications of postapocalyptic narratives in climate change movements. I present data from a qualitative study of climate activism in f…
Mixing With the Crowd: How Mobilization Affects Diversity in Demonstrations
The internal diversity of demonstrations speaks to fundamental debates about voice and equality, solidarity, social capital, and social movement success—yet is rarely empirically investigated. We study how mobilization distinguishes between internally diverse and homogenous demonstrations in terms of education and class. We use unique protest survey data from 16,134 participants in 76 demonstrations in nine European countries. We find that mobili…
Deciding whether it's too late: How climate activists coordinate alternative futures in a postapocalyptic present
Environmental movements and their political context
Environmental movements are in various ways shaped by their political context, typically conceptualized by scholars as the political opportunity structure (POS). In addition to presenting a review of research on the complex relationship between POS and environmental movements, this chapter provides an analysis of several emblematic climate mobilizations of the late 2010s to elaborate on some largely neglected aspects of POS theory. These include …
What hampers ‘political’ action in environmental alternative action organizations? Exploring the scope for strategic agency under post-political conditions
The proliferation of environmental alternative action organization (EAAOs) is a defining feature of present-day environmentalism. The literature on sustainable materialism has celebrated this as an appropriate, effective, and above all, political strategy. By contrast, drawing on post-political and post-ecologist critiques, some have argued that this shift signifies the de-politicisation of environmentalism because it leaves the status quo unchal…
New kids on the block: Taking Stock of the Recent Cycle of Climate Activism
Since late 2018, a global wave of mobilization under the banners of Fridays For Future (FFF) and Extinction Rebellion (XR) has injected new energy into global climate politics. FFF and XR took the world by storm, but have now been forced into (partial) latency as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. We believe this moment presents an opportunity for reflection. In particular, FFF and XR have been depicted as ‘new’ forms of climate activism. However…
Alternative globalities? Climatization processes and the climate movement beyond COPs
Gateway or getaway? Testing the link between lifestyle politics and other modes of political participation
Many have depicted a steady rise in lifestyle politics. Individuals are increasingly using everyday life choices about consumption, transportation, or modes of living to address political, environmental, or ethical issues. While celebrated by some as an expansion of political participation, others worry this trend may be detrimental for democracy, for instance, by reducing citizens to consumers. Implicit in this common critique is the notion that…
Alternatives to Resistance? Comparing Depoliticization in Two British Environmental Movement Scenes
Processes of politicization and depoliticization are increasingly studied in relation to urban contexts, and cities have been depicted as incubators of social movements. What has been largely ignored is why, in some cities, forces of politicization or depoliticization are stronger than in others. To address this question, this article compares two British cities-Manchester and Bristol-which have historically been central hubs of environmental res…
Political Consumerism in Northwestern Europe: Leading by Example?
This chapter uses quantitative measures to assess the spread of political consumerism, confirming not only its well-established status in Northwestern Europe (NWE) but also important regional variations. It then reviews case studies that show that political consumerism is practiced in various social movements in very diverse ways, far beyond the boycotts/buycotts and ethical products typically measured in quantitative data. While some occasionall…
Narrating political opportunities: Explaining strategic adaptation in the climate movement
This article advances theory on social movements’ strategic adaptation to political opportunity structures by incorporating a narrative perspective. Our theory explains how people acquire and use knowledge about political opportunity structures through storytelling about the movement’s past, present, and imagined future. The discussion applies the theory in an ethnographic case study of the climate movement’s mobilization around the UN Climate Su…
The limits to capitalist nature: Theorizing and overcoming the imperial mode of living by Ulrich Brand and Markus Wissen
Brand and Wissen’s book provides a highly welcome and engaging introduction to German political ecology and critical theory and their own contributions to it, which due to language barriers often r
The 'efficacy dilemma' of transnational climate activism: The case of COP21
The transnational climate movement mobilized massively around the 2015 Paris Climate Summit (COP21) – despite a growing consensus within the movement that the UN was unable to solve the climate crisis. Extensive ethnographic fieldwork is the basis for exploration of the profound effect this consensus had on the movement around and beyond COP21. Firstly, it facilitated a historic degree of unification within a previously divided movement, around a…
Lifestyle politics and the concept of political participation
Why Only Some Lifestyle Activists Avoid State-Oriented Politics: A Case Study in the Belgian Environmental Movement
Lifestyle politics are often defined as a political strategy used to avoid state-oriented politics. However, recent studies indicate that in some cases, lifestyle activists engage in actions that target the state. This study investigates why some lifestyle activists combine these forms of engagement, while others do not. We explore whether such differences can be explained by variations in activists' perceptions of the political opportunity struc…
External Efficacy and Political Participation Revisited: The Role of Perceived Output Structures for State- and Non-State-Oriented Action Forms
Numerous studies have stressed the role of citizens' perceptions of the state's responsiveness to explain political participation. However, in doing so, they have mainly focused on citizens' perceptions of the state's willingness to respond. In contrast, how political participation is affected by citizens' perceptions of the state's ability to respond remains empirically overlooked—despite wide theoretical support. This article aims to address th…
Practicing Openness: Investigating the Role of Everyday Decision Making in the Production of Squatted Space
By means of illegal occupation, squatters produce (urban) space. Previous studies have predominantly focused on the external dimensions of this process (e.g. squatters' negotiations with authorities), while the few studies that have analyzed the internal processes of producing squatted space have mainly focused on formal and explicit decision-making processes. The effect of everyday practices and improvised decision making on the production of sq…
New kids on the block: Taking Stock of the Recent Cycle of Climate Activism
Since late 2018, a global wave of mobilization under the banners of Fridays For Future (FFF) and Extinction Rebellion (XR) has injected new energy into global climate politics. FFF and XR took the world by storm, but have now been forced into (partial) latency as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. We believe this moment presents an opportunity for reflection. In particular, FFF and XR have been depicted as ‘new’ forms of climate activism. However…
Lifestyle politics and the concept of political participation
What hampers ‘political’ action in environmental alternative action organizations? Exploring the scope for strategic agency under post-political conditions
The proliferation of environmental alternative action organization (EAAOs) is a defining feature of present-day environmentalism. The literature on sustainable materialism has celebrated this as an appropriate, effective, and above all, political strategy. By contrast, drawing on post-political and post-ecologist critiques, some have argued that this shift signifies the de-politicisation of environmentalism because it leaves the status quo unchal…
Narrating political opportunities: Explaining strategic adaptation in the climate movement
This article advances theory on social movements’ strategic adaptation to political opportunity structures by incorporating a narrative perspective. Our theory explains how people acquire and use knowledge about political opportunity structures through storytelling about the movement’s past, present, and imagined future. The discussion applies the theory in an ethnographic case study of the climate movement’s mobilization around the UN Climate Su…
External Efficacy and Political Participation Revisited: The Role of Perceived Output Structures for State- and Non-State-Oriented Action Forms
Numerous studies have stressed the role of citizens' perceptions of the state's responsiveness to explain political participation. However, in doing so, they have mainly focused on citizens' perceptions of the state's willingness to respond. In contrast, how political participation is affected by citizens' perceptions of the state's ability to respond remains empirically overlooked—despite wide theoretical support. This article aims to address th…
The 'efficacy dilemma' of transnational climate activism: The case of COP21
The transnational climate movement mobilized massively around the 2015 Paris Climate Summit (COP21) – despite a growing consensus within the movement that the UN was unable to solve the climate crisis. Extensive ethnographic fieldwork is the basis for exploration of the profound effect this consensus had on the movement around and beyond COP21. Firstly, it facilitated a historic degree of unification within a previously divided movement, around a…
Deciding whether it's too late: How climate activists coordinate alternative futures in a postapocalyptic present
Gateway or getaway? Testing the link between lifestyle politics and other modes of political participation
Many have depicted a steady rise in lifestyle politics. Individuals are increasingly using everyday life choices about consumption, transportation, or modes of living to address political, environmental, or ethical issues. While celebrated by some as an expansion of political participation, others worry this trend may be detrimental for democracy, for instance, by reducing citizens to consumers. Implicit in this common critique is the notion that…
Why Only Some Lifestyle Activists Avoid State-Oriented Politics: A Case Study in the Belgian Environmental Movement
Lifestyle politics are often defined as a political strategy used to avoid state-oriented politics. However, recent studies indicate that in some cases, lifestyle activists engage in actions that target the state. This study investigates why some lifestyle activists combine these forms of engagement, while others do not. We explore whether such differences can be explained by variations in activists' perceptions of the political opportunity struc…
Postapocalyptic narratives in climate activism: Their place and impact in five European cities
As climate movements are growing around the world, so too is a postapocalyptic form of environmentalism. While apocalyptic environmentalism warns of future catastrophe in case of inaction, its postapocalyptic sibling assumes that catastrophe is already here or unavoidable. Here I explore the overlooked strategic implications of postapocalyptic narratives in climate change movements. I present data from a qualitative study of climate activism in f…
Alternative globalities? Climatization processes and the climate movement beyond COPs
Practicing Openness: Investigating the Role of Everyday Decision Making in the Production of Squatted Space
By means of illegal occupation, squatters produce (urban) space. Previous studies have predominantly focused on the external dimensions of this process (e.g. squatters' negotiations with authorities), while the few studies that have analyzed the internal processes of producing squatted space have mainly focused on formal and explicit decision-making processes. The effect of everyday practices and improvised decision making on the production of sq…
Alternatives to Resistance? Comparing Depoliticization in Two British Environmental Movement Scenes
Processes of politicization and depoliticization are increasingly studied in relation to urban contexts, and cities have been depicted as incubators of social movements. What has been largely ignored is why, in some cities, forces of politicization or depoliticization are stronger than in others. To address this question, this article compares two British cities-Manchester and Bristol-which have historically been central hubs of environmental res…
Introduction: What Moment for Climate Activism
Since late 2018, the world—Europe, Australia, and North America in particular—have seen a great wave of climate activism. Extinction Rebellion (XR) and Fridays For Future (FFF) in particular brought a large number of (new) climate activists into the streets, until the pandemic brought the mobilization to a halt. The contours of this mobilization have already been described elsewhere (de Moor et al. 2021). Here, we focus on understanding its signi…
Toward a problem-centered approach to social movements: The case of European climate activism
This paper addresses a significant gap in social movement theory by introducing a “problem-centered approach” to understand how the nature of problems influences collective efforts to address them. Traditionally, social movement theory has focused on how movements frame problems and navigate issue-specific opportunity structures. However, I argue that the nature of the problems movements seek to address also matter outside how they are understood…
Vulnerability and activism in urban climate politics: An actor-centered approach to transformational adaptation in Malmö (Sweden)
Climate change adaptation is rising on the agenda of cities. However, critics have argued that urban adaptation efforts largely focus on preserving economic growth while overlooking the root causes of unequal vulnerability to climate impacts, giving rise to climate injustices. In response, literature on transformational adaptation has politicized these issues but it has remained largely conceptual, particularly in relation to the question of whic…
External Efficacy and Political Participation Revisited: The Role of Perceived Output Structures for State- and Non-State-Oriented Action Forms
Numerous studies have stressed the role of citizens' perceptions of the state's responsiveness to explain political participation. However, in doing so, they have mainly focused on citizens' perceptions of the state's willingness to respond. In contrast, how political participation is affected by citizens' perceptions of the state's ability to respond remains empirically overlooked—despite wide theoretical support. This article aims to address th…
Practicing Openness: Investigating the Role of Everyday Decision Making in the Production of Squatted Space
By means of illegal occupation, squatters produce (urban) space. Previous studies have predominantly focused on the external dimensions of this process (e.g. squatters' negotiations with authorities), while the few studies that have analyzed the internal processes of producing squatted space have mainly focused on formal and explicit decision-making processes. The effect of everyday practices and improvised decision making on the production of sq…
Lifestyle politics and the concept of political participation
Why Only Some Lifestyle Activists Avoid State-Oriented Politics: A Case Study in the Belgian Environmental Movement
Lifestyle politics are often defined as a political strategy used to avoid state-oriented politics. However, recent studies indicate that in some cases, lifestyle activists engage in actions that target the state. This study investigates why some lifestyle activists combine these forms of engagement, while others do not. We explore whether such differences can be explained by variations in activists' perceptions of the political opportunity struc…
The 'efficacy dilemma' of transnational climate activism: The case of COP21
The transnational climate movement mobilized massively around the 2015 Paris Climate Summit (COP21) – despite a growing consensus within the movement that the UN was unable to solve the climate crisis. Extensive ethnographic fieldwork is the basis for exploration of the profound effect this consensus had on the movement around and beyond COP21. Firstly, it facilitated a historic degree of unification within a previously divided movement, around a…
Political Consumerism in Northwestern Europe: Leading by Example?
This chapter uses quantitative measures to assess the spread of political consumerism, confirming not only its well-established status in Northwestern Europe (NWE) but also important regional variations. It then reviews case studies that show that political consumerism is practiced in various social movements in very diverse ways, far beyond the boycotts/buycotts and ethical products typically measured in quantitative data. While some occasionall…
Narrating political opportunities: Explaining strategic adaptation in the climate movement
This article advances theory on social movements’ strategic adaptation to political opportunity structures by incorporating a narrative perspective. Our theory explains how people acquire and use knowledge about political opportunity structures through storytelling about the movement’s past, present, and imagined future. The discussion applies the theory in an ethnographic case study of the climate movement’s mobilization around the UN Climate Su…
The limits to capitalist nature: Theorizing and overcoming the imperial mode of living by Ulrich Brand and Markus Wissen
Brand and Wissen’s book provides a highly welcome and engaging introduction to German political ecology and critical theory and their own contributions to it, which due to language barriers often r
Alternative globalities? Climatization processes and the climate movement beyond COPs
Gateway or getaway? Testing the link between lifestyle politics and other modes of political participation
Many have depicted a steady rise in lifestyle politics. Individuals are increasingly using everyday life choices about consumption, transportation, or modes of living to address political, environmental, or ethical issues. While celebrated by some as an expansion of political participation, others worry this trend may be detrimental for democracy, for instance, by reducing citizens to consumers. Implicit in this common critique is the notion that…
Alternatives to Resistance? Comparing Depoliticization in Two British Environmental Movement Scenes
Processes of politicization and depoliticization are increasingly studied in relation to urban contexts, and cities have been depicted as incubators of social movements. What has been largely ignored is why, in some cities, forces of politicization or depoliticization are stronger than in others. To address this question, this article compares two British cities-Manchester and Bristol-which have historically been central hubs of environmental res…
Environmental movements and their political context
Environmental movements are in various ways shaped by their political context, typically conceptualized by scholars as the political opportunity structure (POS). In addition to presenting a review of research on the complex relationship between POS and environmental movements, this chapter provides an analysis of several emblematic climate mobilizations of the late 2010s to elaborate on some largely neglected aspects of POS theory. These include …
What hampers ‘political’ action in environmental alternative action organizations? Exploring the scope for strategic agency under post-political conditions
The proliferation of environmental alternative action organization (EAAOs) is a defining feature of present-day environmentalism. The literature on sustainable materialism has celebrated this as an appropriate, effective, and above all, political strategy. By contrast, drawing on post-political and post-ecologist critiques, some have argued that this shift signifies the de-politicisation of environmentalism because it leaves the status quo unchal…
New kids on the block: Taking Stock of the Recent Cycle of Climate Activism
Since late 2018, a global wave of mobilization under the banners of Fridays For Future (FFF) and Extinction Rebellion (XR) has injected new energy into global climate politics. FFF and XR took the world by storm, but have now been forced into (partial) latency as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. We believe this moment presents an opportunity for reflection. In particular, FFF and XR have been depicted as ‘new’ forms of climate activism. However…
Vulnerability and activism in urban climate politics: An actor-centered approach to transformational adaptation in Malmö (Sweden)
Climate change adaptation is rising on the agenda of cities. However, critics have argued that urban adaptation efforts largely focus on preserving economic growth while overlooking the root causes of unequal vulnerability to climate impacts, giving rise to climate injustices. In response, literature on transformational adaptation has politicized these issues but it has remained largely conceptual, particularly in relation to the question of whic…
Postapocalyptic narratives in climate activism: Their place and impact in five European cities
As climate movements are growing around the world, so too is a postapocalyptic form of environmentalism. While apocalyptic environmentalism warns of future catastrophe in case of inaction, its postapocalyptic sibling assumes that catastrophe is already here or unavoidable. Here I explore the overlooked strategic implications of postapocalyptic narratives in climate change movements. I present data from a qualitative study of climate activism in f…
Mixing With the Crowd: How Mobilization Affects Diversity in Demonstrations
The internal diversity of demonstrations speaks to fundamental debates about voice and equality, solidarity, social capital, and social movement success—yet is rarely empirically investigated. We study how mobilization distinguishes between internally diverse and homogenous demonstrations in terms of education and class. We use unique protest survey data from 16,134 participants in 76 demonstrations in nine European countries. We find that mobili…
Deciding whether it's too late: How climate activists coordinate alternative futures in a postapocalyptic present
Introduction: What Moment for Climate Activism
Since late 2018, the world—Europe, Australia, and North America in particular—have seen a great wave of climate activism. Extinction Rebellion (XR) and Fridays For Future (FFF) in particular brought a large number of (new) climate activists into the streets, until the pandemic brought the mobilization to a halt. The contours of this mobilization have already been described elsewhere (de Moor et al. 2021). Here, we focus on understanding its signi…
Toward a problem-centered approach to social movements: The case of European climate activism
This paper addresses a significant gap in social movement theory by introducing a “problem-centered approach” to understand how the nature of problems influences collective efforts to address them. Traditionally, social movement theory has focused on how movements frame problems and navigate issue-specific opportunity structures. However, I argue that the nature of the problems movements seek to address also matter outside how they are understood…
Political science (19 works) · Law (18 works) · Politics (17 works) · Sociology (16 works) · Political economy (11 works) · Law (9 works) · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance (9 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Climate change (6 works) · Economics (6 works)