Format/Structure

Panel discussion of papers (videos and other content)

Long Abstract

While the far-right is mainly known for rejecting the ecological and climate crises and opposing attempts at a socio-ecological transition, recent scholarship highlights a more complex reality, with far-right groups or parties adopting pro-environmetal positions. These range from the production of environmental discourse and policy, to an acknowledgment of the climate crisis and support for renewable energies, or even to questioning capitalist economic growth. These narratives are flexible enough to adapt to authoritarian outlooks (Franquesa & Gorostiza, 2024: 113) or find an unlikely common ground with environmentalist social movements that, for instance, contest dam removal projects or large-scale renewable energy projects (cf. Lubarda and Forchtner 2023; Ruser, Machin 2019; Pietilaïnen 2024; Benoist 2024; Forchtner, Olsen 2024; Weisskircher, Volk 2025). These developments call for further reflection on far-right environmentalism and its implications for emancipatory approaches to political ecology. To contribute to a critical understanding of this topic, we invite both academic and activist contributions in text or other creative formats (e.g. video) that address some of the following (or related) questions:

• How have varied far-right political actors integrated environmental, energy or climate issues into their politics? How have they positioned themselves in relation to ecological conflicts?

• How do scale (local/national/European), ideology vs. strategy and the climate/environment distinctions play a role in these developments? And how do they, in turn, challenge traditional ecofascist/climate denialist conceptual framings?

• What consequences does far-right environmentalism have for social movements and other actors concerned about socio-environmental justice?

• How does this relate to the emergence of xenophobic, nationalist, populist environments and policy proposals?

This Panel has 7 pending paper proposals.
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