Present Change for Future Lives: Greta Thunberg's Climate Activist Life Writing

Over the past decade, the climate movement has emerged as a vital mobilizing collective movement both online and in the streets. Contrary to what some may think, youth refuse to partake of mere hacktivist initiatives and prefer in-person, disrupting actions. Faced with a past of inaction, a present of destruction, and an imperiled future, youth today are actually becoming activists on testimonial grounds. Their identities hinge on a collective awareness-raising agenda as well as the shared consciousness that their lives are at stake. In this context, Greta Thunberg's activism exemplifies the use of lifewriting methods to exercise agency, to fight for the right to (have) a future. One may thus read her identity being constructed on- and offline as testimonial, in the sense that it is co-constructed and has a collective valence. Her witnessing acts, imbued with emotional undertones, call on audiences/readers to use their collective imagination. Reading her lifewriting practices helps us see how youth today are fighting for their rights, and paving a way forward.