“Systems Change Not Climate Change”: Support for a Radical Shift Away from Capitalism at Mainstream U.S. Climate Change Protest Events

ABSTRACT

Social movements and academic research debate about how to address climate change. One such debate asks whether climate change should be addressed by new policies and technological innovation within the existing economic system or if it requires a more fundamental change to the system. How much do mainstream climate change protestors support a radical shift away from capitalism to address climate change? Using original survey data collected during major U.S. climate change movement events, I examine the individual-level predictors of protestors’ support for a radical shift away from capitalism and the demographics of mainstream climate change protestors.

KEYWORDS:

• Climate change
• social movement
• capitalism
• social change
• protest

Disclosure Statement

The author declares no potential conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of the article.

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Christopher Todd Beer

Christopher Todd Beer is an Associate Professor and chair of the Sociology & Anthropology Department at Lake Forest College. His research interests include climate justice, East Africa, globalization, culture, and social movements. His other published work includes analysis of the diffusion of world society scripts (Sociological Perspectives), mapping ideas of climate justice in Kenya (The Global South), and tracing the rationale of early adopters of fossil fuel divestment campaigns (The Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education). He blogs about teaching and other sociological topics at The Sociology Toolbox and is developing an online, open-access teaching resource, The Sociology of Climate Change.