Sustaining participation in the ecological movement during the global pandemic: The case of Fridays for Future (Spain)

This article analyses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown on the Spanish wing of Fridays for Future, an emerging, youth-oriented environmental and social movement. Specifically, it examines the effect of reductions in physical social interaction during the pandemic on FfF’s dynamics through analysis of movement’s cognitive frameworks, internal organisation, mobilisations, identity processes, internal relationships, group efficacy, intention to remain involved in the movement, and members’ emotions. The study was carried out in Spain between September 2019 and October 2020 and employed a mixed-methods design, including ethnography (observations of assemblies and mobilisations, analysis of internal documents and social media chats, personal interviews and focus groups, involving in total more than 50 activists) and a survey of the movement’s activists (68 participants). The results show that the use of digital media permitted the movement to adapt its internal organisation to counteract the impact of the pandemic and lockdown. This was evident in the findings in relation to the activists’ identification with the movement, their perception of efficacy, and intention to stay involved, which all remained relatively high. On the other hand, the study participants perceived the impact of lockdown on mobilisations to have been predominantly negative, pointing to adverse long-term effects. The pandemic also had a significant influence on the movements’ interpretive framework as discourses of social commitment and equality became increasingly influential and integrated into its worldview. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses points to the importance of social, affective, technological, and organisational dimensions in the movement’s continued survival.