Another World is Depictable! Imaginal Climate Justice and the Affective Rhetoric of Visible Futures

Abstract

This paper explores and analyses images of post-climate crisis futures that circulate in political web videos as part of the current Global Northern climate discourse. Starting from the observation that many of these images resemble each other, the main argument is that the analysed cases represent an affective rhetoric of visible futures that is used across different types of videos and actors to promote certain climate-related political strategies. This rhetoric is criticised from a climate justice communication perspective. The underlying assumption is that, while many activists use and fill out the (u)topos of alternative worlds, details are crucial: How does the promoted future look? How far or close is it? How do we get there? What or who is left behind? Who presents which future to whom? Does it differ from the present?