Mobilizing for Climate Action

Abstract

Distributed campaigning is a key form of protest that has emerged in the past decade. The climate movement, in particular, has gained power and profile globally thanks to simultaneous, mass mobilizations on a large scale, which local groups of volunteers organize online and face-to-face. This chapter separates out four forms of transnational advocacy often conflated in international relations (IR) scholarship. Campaigns focused on the same issue can occur: (a) at the same time with same target; (b) at the same time with a different target; (c) at a different time with the same target; and (d) at a different time and with a different target. This analytical distinction highlights a form of protest not well recognized by IR scholars: actions which occur at the same time, but with different targets (‘distributed campaigning’). The chapter applies this framework to examine the Online Progressive Engagement Network’s (OPEN’s) climate campaigns.