‘Vandals', ‘idiots' and ‘completely deranged'! Exploring political responses to climate activism in Germany and Italy

This paper analyses discursive responses to the Letzte Generation/Ultima Generazione (LG/UG) protests in Germany and Italy. Despite the political differences in the two countries’ governing coalitions, both exhibit similarities in their response to civil disobedience-centred climate activism. We identify three discursive strategies that situate protesters outside the democratic sphere: disparaging, patronising, and criminalising. These strategies are utilised within larger narratives constructed around the activism of LG/UG: that these groups represent a threat to liberty, democracy and social cohesion. We see the antagonism between state and activist groups as rooted in competing understandings of democracy, and legitimate ways of effecting change.