THE EMOTIONAL DIMENSION OF MEXICAN CLIMATE ACTIVISM: A SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH

Abstract

Since many disciplines started to examine emotions in the nineties, studies that focus on emotions and protest have increased, despite the difficulties of systematizing the complex matrix of emotions that activists feel, as well as the limitations that emotion labels create. In this article, we show how using a sociocultural approach to analyze emotions and protest allows us to overcome these limitations that belong to the classical view of emotions. We will do this by analyzing the emotional dimension of the new wave of the climate movement in Mexico (2019-2022). The article focuses on how several long-term and medium-term emotions that activists feel affect their climate activism, influencing, for instance, the framing of the problem, the perception of the threat, and how emotions interact with each other. This article helps highlight both the potential and the difficulties of the sociocultural approach to emotion and protest in the context of the climate crisis.