The Politics of Silence: Hannah Arendt and Future Generations’ Fight for the Climate

Abstract Silence, a political category in democratic theory, has proven starkly unjust toward future generations, who are practically voiceless in intergovernmental fora, a notable feature of the international climate regime. This article first explores the status of future generations’ fight for the climate by articulating the solidarity implications of climate change as a common concern of humankind. Second, the analysis offers a brief overview of the recent constitutionalization trend concerning future generations’ interests in the environment as a meaningful counterweight to the politics of silence. Third, the article discusses climate change litigation as a catalyst of the constitutionalization trend and a proxy for political participation. Throughout the analysis, the article turns to the thought of political theorist Hannah Arendt to illustrate the potential of legally protecting future generations’ role in fighting for a stable climate through post-sovereign constitutionalism. By way of a case study, the analysis argues that in Neubauer et al v Germany Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court offered practical ways to offset the politics of silence and increase the political space for future freedoms. Conclusively, the article offers a snapshot of open and fluid post-sovereign constitutional institutions and participative practices that could advance freedoms for future generations.