What makes a global movement? Analyzing the conditions for strong participation in the climate strike

Abstract

The Fridays For Future movement and their global climate strikes put climate change on political agendas worldwide and created a new wave of climate activism. The emergence of a global movement is a rare and contingent phenomenon that promises insights for political sociology and globalization research. This study consists of a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) of 17 democratic countries to analyze the conditions for strong mobilization of the third global climate strike. Four mechanisms are identified, showing that trust in environmental movements, the availability of resources through international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) and information and communication technologies (ICT), and frame resonance are sufficient for explaining strong mobilization. These results illustrate that global movements depend on several equifinal mechanisms for mobilization on the nation-state level. Furthermore, the findings illustrate that the global features of a global movement are necessary but not sufficient for explaining its emergence.