Greta's Choice

• In Event: Postdigital Eco-Pedagogies Continued

Abstract

In this paper, I describe different environmental discourses (apocalyptic, anti-apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic) and then focus on Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg’s role and position in global climate activism. I examine Thunberg’s activism in her published speeches and social media and their reception in the light of different environmental discourses. Furthermore, I analyze Thunberg as a critical public pedagogue and transformative intellectual from the theoretical vantage point of intergenerational and collective learning. I also suggest that Thunberg serves as a model of a transformative future leader who forces us to rethink the concept of youth and replace the traditional conceptualization of youth as protected for youth as an agent of change. In conclusion, I evaluate Thunberg's position in the larger context of postdigital ecopedagogies.

Author

• Juha Suoranta, University of Tampere