Climate Radicals Why Our Environmental Politics Isn’t Working
Are radical climate activists hurting the cause?
Germany should have been a global leader in combating climate change—its voters consider it a major issue and back the world’s most powerful Green Party. Yet, Germany’s climate policies have been disappointing. What happened?
In Climate Radicals, Cameron Abadi profiles the fascinating activists of Letzte Generation, known for gluing themselves to street intersections and throwing food on works of art; Ende Gelände, which demands the immediate phaseout of coal by occupying mines; and the German leaders of the global coalition Fridays for Future, which organizes school strikes (on Fridays) and many other large-scale demonstrations.
Abadi finds that the groups’ uncompromising stances and outrage over narrowly defined policy failures have led them to extreme acts of publicity that feed their sense of urgency. In contrast, Joe Biden’s American Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 represents the most significant move toward green energy in US history. The law did not impress groups like Letzte Generation, but Climate Radicals shows that old- fashioned political compromise and incremental progress might be the only way for governments to fight climate change.
“Much of this readable book is devoted to an anecdote-filled and engaging analysis of the radical ideology and unorthodox tactics employed by fringe protesters in Germany.” —Foreign Affairs
“Climate action may seem obvious, but that doesn’t make it easy. Cameron Abadi’s illuminating case study is also a distressing reckoning: why, as the crisis of warming intensifies, are those calling attention to its urgency increasingly mocked, vilified, and marginalized? This book is a necessary accounting.” —David Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable Earth
“Why does radical protest not lead to policy change? How can real policy change happen without movement on the streets? As a highly original guide to climate politics, Abadi’s Climate Radicals, comparing Biden’s United States and climate-friendly Germany, spurs us to think afresh about democracy, science and the climate crisis. Abadi’s new book is essential reading.” —Adam Tooze, professor of history, Columbia University, author of Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World
“Climate Radicals is an eye-opening book. When reading it, I had an almost physical sensation of the most popular cliches of climate politics starting to melt down.” —Ivan Krastev, author of The Light That Failed and contributing opinion writer for the New York Times
“Climate Radicals is a concise, accessible, and revealing study of the dilemmas climate activists face as they seek to rally public support and pressure overly cautious leaders. Democratic governments must face pressure to act, but confrontational tactics and calls for radical change risk provoking a public backlash and leaving the status quo unchanged. The book is a sobering reminder that successful climate action requires a political solution, and that success is far from guaranteed.” —Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Affairs, Harvard University
“Once seen as anti-establishment radicals, green campaigners in Europe and the US now seem to be stuck. Should they work within the Establishment or fight against it? Should they advocate sweeping change or incrementalism? In this powerful assessment of climate change activism in Germany and the US, Cameron Abadi describes the many dilemmas it is facing. Mixing vivid on-the-ground reporting with deep research, he describes a movement facing resistance on a number of fronts, while retaining resilience about its future.” —John Kampfner, author of Why Germans Do It Better and In Search of Berlin
“Abadi’s close-up study of German climate politics reveals an obsession with performance over policy.” —Kirkus Reviews
⚠️ Get to know the activist groups of Climate Radicals
Letzte Generation (Last Generation)
The youngest of Germany’s climate activist groups. Currently has the greatest momentum, in part because it sets few limits on its methods of protest. For the same reason, it has also inspired the greatest public backlash.
Method of protest: Disruption
Demonstrations of extreme commitment and moral outrage that aim to compel change by implying future disruptions of even greater scale. Known for nonviolent protests such as throwing soup at works of art and supergluing themselves to the street.
Ende Gelände (Here and No Further)
The first of Germany’s major climate groups, focused on shutting down fossil fuel industries through often confrontational civil disobedience
Method of protest: Destruction
Endorses the sabotage of fossil fuel infrastructure, with the goal of creating enough costly destruction polluters are forced out of business.
Fridays for Future
A student-led group that has earned the de facto status as the moral leadership of the broader climate protection movement.
Method of protest: Demonstration
Known for organizing massive public demonstrations—typically peaceful street protests—designed to demonstrate mass support for climate policy and persuade politicians to take action.
Coverage
Hard Truths Come for Germany’s Climate Prophet — Foreign Policy
Cameron Abadi is a deputy editor at Foreign Policy and co-host of FP’s Ones and Tooze podcast. He previously worked as an editor at the New Republic and Foreign Affairs and as a freelance correspondent in Germany and Iran. His writing has appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek, the New Yorker, the New Republic, and Der Spiegel. He lives with his family in Berlin, Germany.
