How (Not) to Politicize the Climate Crisis: Beyond the Antipopulist Imaginary

Abstract When populism is seen as “the biggest obstacle to tackling climate change,” a depoliticized climate policy managed by elites—rooted in an antipopulist imaginary—can seem to be the most feasible response to the climate crisis. By locating the core problem within populism itself, however, this response elevates a failed mainstream approach. To move beyond this position, we draw insights from both an oft-neglected U.S. populist tradition and contemporary environmental politics scholarship to argue for an alternative approach to politicizing climate action. A “climate justice imaginary” as found, for example, in the growing global movement for a Feminist Green New Deal offers a promising way forward because it is rooted in everyday concerns, centers solidarity and care, and creates free space for an inclusive democratic process. We also show how it contrasts with the populist imaginary advanced by the proponents of post-political critique.