Unveiling Green Discontent in Peripheries: For a Just and Democratic Transition

• In Event: The Limits and Possibilities of Democratic Environmental Social Movements

Abstract

In face of the climate crisis, democratic governments grapple with the dual challenge of formulating ambitious policies while garnering public support. This challenge is further magnified in so-called “peripheral areas”, with the intricate interplay between environmental policies, democratic processes, and citizen satisfaction or discontent. When it comes to the low-carbon transition, there is in fact a popular belief that people living outside major urban centers would be less likely to support the adoption of climate change mitigation policies. This belief is echoing a growing body of research unveiling democratic dissatisfaction and the manifestation of political discontent (in the form of distrust, populist voting, etc.) in these “peripheral” territories (Rodriguez-Pose, 2018). Fewer work has tried to understand how dissatisfaction and discontent materialized in the case of the green transition. This is however an urgent matter as growing green discontent and low democratic support could jeopardize the whole transition.

As a matter of fact, recent studies underscore the potential heterogenous impacts of climate policies on diverse individuals and locales, posing a risk of rising “green discontent” (Rodriguez-Pose & Bartalucci, 2023) while recent movements like the Gilets Jaunes demonstrate the actual peril of escalating discontent from these so-called “peripheral places” (Colomb, 2020). Despite these challenges, characterizing citizen perceptions of climate policies – and drivers of opposition in these territories – remains elusive.

This paper builds upon existing literature on attitudes towards climate policies, the just transition, and the geography of discontent, centering its focus on the democratic dimensions (and challenges) of the green transition. While some studies hint at a division between urban centers and peripheries in supporting expensive climate policies (Arndt et al., 2022), the prevailing quantitative analyses often narrowly explore economic drivers of discontent, offering a restricted perspective on the underlying reasons for discontent and hereby overlooking the subtle democratic intricacies at play.

Based on fieldwork conducted in "peripheral" France in 2023, including approximately 40 in-depth interviews across diverse locales, this communication delves into the democratic challenges posed by green discontent and the risk of an ecological “backlash”. It argues that material considerations are central in feeding citizens’ discontent but that symbolic, behavioural, and socio-cultural dimensions must also be considered. Moreover, it also focuses on a more systematic political resentment, translated in democratic dissatisfaction and political distrust. In doing so, I wish to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of public sentiment – and drivers of resistance – in peripheral places.

This contribution, based on doctoral research, provides a comprehensive examination of the reception of climate policies, adopting a spatial and qualitative methodology seldom utilized in such academic work. It seeks to not only uncover the democratic challenges but also advocate for a renewed approach to the "just transition." By accentuating the democratic dimensions, the paper calls for an integrated perspective that acknowledges the plurality of conflicts and underscores the imperative of democratic participation in steering the green transition.


References cited:
Arndt, C., Halikiopoulou, D., & Vrakopoulos, C. (2022). The centre-periphery divide and attitudes towards climate change measures among Western Europeans. Environmental Politics, 0(0), 1 26. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2022.2075155
Colomb, C. (2020). The revolt of the “periphery” against the “metropolis”? Making sense of the French Gilets Jaunes movement (2018-2020). Spotlight On Urban Revolts, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research.
Rodríguez-Pose, A. (2018). The revenge of the places that don’t matter (and what to do about it). Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 11(1), 189 209. https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsx024
Rodríguez-Pose, A., & Bartalucci, F. (2023). The green transition and its potential territorial discontents. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society. https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsad039

Author

• Theodore Tallent, Sciences Po