Alternative Futures in a Heating World

This book develops the concepts of vision and vision work in relation to the study of social movements and applies it to an empirical investigation of how the climate movement envisions what a fossil-free and just future could look like. Using a dynamic approach, it develops an understanding of the challenges and processes through which visions come about – or may struggle to do so. The book moreover assesses the resonance of movement visions among political elites and the broader public. The analysis focuses on Sweden, a long-term leader in climate action and the cradle of the Fridays For Future movement, but also a country that like many others struggles to meet the demands of climate science. How might the vision work of the climate movement enable societies to escape their carbon lock-in?

• Innovative theorization of visions & vision work in social movements
• In-depth qualitative analysis of visions & vision work in the climate movement
• Critical analysis of what helps or hinders movements and societies to envision alternative futures