What’s capitalism – generational differentiation in the climate movement

This paper examines how climate activists interpret capitalism and shows that underlying shared anti-capitalist sentiments are significant conceptual differences. Based on 43 in-depth interviews with German activists recruited from public-facing climate groups and events, the study distinguishes two divergent conceptualizations. Older activists, shaped by the long 1970s, understand capitalism primarily as a cultural and value system, emphasizing individual change and consciousness-raising. Younger respondents, who grew up amid sociopolitical destabilization and the looming climate catastrophe, lack a similar positive schematic knowledge. Drawing instead on theoretical knowledge, they tend to frame capitalism as a system with built-in imperatives, but struggle to translate their diagnosis into a coherent prognosis. These patterns challenge simple distinctions between moderate and radical activism and reveal hybrid repertoires across cohorts. The study advances generational theory and clarifies why anti-capitalism is common yet remains analytically diffuse.