Green with anger: polarised environmental mobilisation and the knowledge economy

Abstract The green transition unfolds against a backdrop of widening territorial inequalities driven by the spatial concentration of the knowledge economy. While knowledge-intensive regions with educated, affluent populations might be expected to champion environmental causes, this paper reveals a counter-intuitive pattern. Using novel measures of pro- and anti-environmental activism across Italian provinces (2012–2022) and a Bartik-like instrumental variable, we find that knowledge economy concentration reduces pro-environmental activism nearly twice as much as anti-environmental activism. This asymmetry creates a compositional shift where knowledge-intensive areas exhibit relatively more anti-environmental sentiment in their remaining activism. The findings challenge simplified assumptions about education, affluence and environmental support, revealing that territorial economic structures fundamentally alter engagement patterns. Green transition policies must account for how different economic contexts generate distinct mobilisation patterns, addressing both the reduced collective action in knowledge hubs and resistance in vulnerable territories.