Caring, sharing and mobilizing – information sharing practices among Swedish climate activists

Purpose The study investigates how participants in the Swedish climate grassroot activist group Rebellmammorna engage in information sharing practices related to climate change. Design/methodology/approach The study uses 10 semi-structured interviews with participants in the Swedish grassroot climate activist group Rebellmammorna. It is informed by New Feminist Materialist Science and Technology studies and draws on Puig de la Bellacasa’s concept of care. Maternal identity, rituals and storytelling are used as analytical concepts. Findings This study of Rebellmammorna shows climate activists’ engagement with information as a form of care work rooted in the desire to protect their children and securing livable futures for them. Motherhood functions as a collective and strategic identity granting public authority, though creating vulnerabilities highlighting this legitimacy’s fragility. Care relations foster trust and sustain activism. Self-care enables continued engagement, while mutual care maintains group cohesion with fellow participants as trusted information sources. Shared stories and rituals enacting maternal identity mediate information exchange, strengthening community bonds and supporting broader public mobilization. Originality/value This study highlights how emotional, relational and embodied experiences shape the interpretation, evaluation, circulation and collective production of information within the grassroots climate activism of Rebellmammorna. By conceptualizing motherhood and care as relational standpoints, the study advances understanding of how information practices are enacted, trusted and sustained in activist communities. It further reveals the vulnerabilities and tensions that may accompany information sharing, demonstrating how informational authority and legitimacy are both enabled and constrained by maternal identities.