Center for German and European Studies

Many say we have to 'save' the climate. It sounds as if we can put the state of the world in a safe drawer at some point, then call it a day and go play mini-golf. But there won't be that one mythical day when the world becomes paradise. Which is not to say that we can't win. We can stop destruction, improve living conditions. But the fight for climate justice will never be over. So what  can we still hope for? And what remains when there is no hope left? Two authors from the team behind the book Beyond Hope and Doubt. Thoughts on Resistance in the Climate Crisis by ausgeCO2hlt will read from the book and discuss how we can move forward in the face of overwhelming social and ecological crises. 

AusgeCo2hlt is a climate justice group of about a dozen people who have been fighting open-cast coal mining in West Germany for more than a decade. They have been giving much of their time and hearts to powerful struggles in support of the Hambach forest and the small town of Lützerath, often mobilizing tens of thousands of people. However, since the climate crisis keeps accelerating, they took time to reflect on the strategies and mind-sets of their movement. In their book, they analyze narratives - the apocalypse, utopia, 'Unite behind the science' – and their side effects; they consider what the sense of urgency does to the movement’s work-culture. They discuss what sucks energy out of them, what gives them the power to go on. The overarching question is how we can find a way of living and sustaining the resistance for the long term.

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