Climate Strikes in Millennial India: Social Capital and “On-Ground’ Networks in Digital-First Movements

Abstract

In September 2019, young people in India led a series of protest events, taking inspiration from a digital campaign for a series of Climate Strikes. Our article explores these events in the context of “millennial India,” particularly in terms of the networks that emerged in the course of climate action in two different regions. By using evidence from Delhi in the north and Bengaluru in the south, we also develop a comparative sociology of digital-first environmental movements and show how the significance of Twitter can only be understood in relation to the formations of social capital on the ground.