The World We Want

Abstract This article illuminates how diverse experiences of emotion and futurity constitute equally diverse responses to the climate crisis. It draws on research among participants in the Transition movement for climate resilience to illustrate how a unique kind of climate activism arises from a distinctive combination of emotional engagement (embracing grief while emphasizing joy) and positive futurity (embracing inevitability while emphasizing efficacy). Transition participants’ anticipation of a future of postapocalyptic regeneration has important implications for their present actions; instead of resistance and protest, they model practical everyday alternatives and actively confront the painful emotions evoked by the climate crisis. Ultimately, this article suggests that exploring complex intersections of emotion, futurity, and action can reveal otherwise overlooked dimensions and sites of climate change response.