While exploring the role of art to drive activism towards environmental justice and diversity in several case studies of socio-ecological conflicts, we have gained new knowledge. Here we present our insights so far.

What Is (Not) Known

Creative expressions are thriving as a pathway to knowledge-sharing and the generation of innovative ideas. Art’s ability to activate particular cognitive processes, or change unquestioned values has made it widespread in activities of environmental defence. The combination of art with activism is what social movements such as the Zapatistas have referred to as “artivism”, a term that we use in our work.  

The urgency of the needed actions has sparked the creativity of affected communities and environmental activists to make their voices heard, create supportive alliances, and promote social transformations. Research support for environmental conflicts has increased in recent years. Yet, theorization about media and critical examinations of art have not reached the environmental-conflict literature, despite the widespread use of art and media.   

CLAMOR is addressing this gap and cataloguing the role of cultural artefacts in catalyzing transformations in social-ecological conflicts. CLAMOR focuses on conflicts over water-management and coal, while also integrating topics like gender representation. CLAMOR researchers innovatively use mixed methods, combining in-depth case studies (ideal for developing causal explanations) with data intensive social science research methods, and use of big data as secondary source of analysis (which provide grounds for generalisation). 

Our Insights

A) Gender and Diversity in Environmental Artivism 

A gendered perspective on artivism recognizes and records different gender groups as leaders in environmental change. A particularly under-explored theme in the literature on environmental activism is whether (and how) gender-differentiated environmental claims and/or transformative or restorative initiatives are voiced and promoted through arts and cultural expressions. 

A gendered lens on artistic activism made visible the power of different groups to act- be they women, men, LGBTQ or other collectives and their scopes of creative action when engaging with environmental protection. 

A highlight of the supporting study (Rodriguez-Labajos and Ray, 2021, Fig.1) is the significant presence of younger demographics, including children and students, in environmental artivism. By putting our results in conversation with well-known current environmentalism(s), we show that gendered artivism expands our understanding of environmental action. Environmental artivism is as diverse as environmentalism itself. 

B) Effectiveness of the Artivist Approach

Art’s capacity to foster cultural, cognitive and psychological changes is amply recognized by academics as well as by the public. Nevertheless, the theoretical question of how art is linked to activist strategies and to socio-spatial transformations in environmental conflicts remains unexplored. Our research demonstrates which transformative potentials art bears with it. Our case studies, especially the anti-coal struggles in Oakland and the small-scale fisheries conflicts in Colombia, show three important effects: 

Education and Knowledge Production
Interestingly, education is most frequently perceived effect of art. Education appears directly connected with image-based expressions like banners, posters, signs, and online media used in the protests. Art is catchy and colorful way to combine education about the impacts, responsibilities, and possible solutions, with an increased public attention on the matter. When people start asking questions and realize that they are not alone in their concerns, local environmental awareness rises (Fig. 2).

We have experimented with artistic ways of rendering academic information, too. These approaches include filmmaking as a tool for knowledge production and utilizing the camera to change one´s perspective on fishery conflicts. Furthermore, we have presented our research on art and degrowth in the form of a performance lecture (Fig. 3). Art can help education to become more dynamic, intuitive and subversive, by allowing emotions to integrate with knowledge. We would thus like to emphasize that the educational effects of art are still underestimated, especially for ecological and social discourses.  

Social Cohesion and Inclusiveness  
Inclusiveness was the other key transformation of the struggles. Artistic activism contributed to the expansion of the demographics of the anti-coal movements in Oakland and Caribbean Colombia, and the overcoming of demographic barriers in other struggles. Seasoned activists raised the first voices against the coal projects, but the social transformations were particularly influenced by the work of youth activist groups, consisting mainly of young girls of color. The turn towards a more inclusive movement is significant in environmental justice communities that were already fighting for racial justice and social justice. Art had a strong effect on uniting and mediating those intersectional struggles.  

Expressing Opinions  
Visual expressions clearly distinguish themselves from verbal expressions: visual works, often collaboratively created, function as additional narratives. Verbal narratives often come in form of poetry and performances, which attract attention from the general public, while, again, giving voices to otherwise less heard communities (i.e., youth and people of colour).  

Over time the use of the artwork-as-object (e.g., paintings, music, films) has been mediated by the involvement of audiences in constructing the artworks’ significance. The artwork then functions as a platform where different people explore their relationship to one another, and with their environment. The artwork shifts from being a mere representation of the fragility of the environment towards understanding socio-environmental relationships. We open up these relational effects, for instance in our case study in Chile.