Contesting aeromobility, constructing alternatives: the prefigurative politics of staying on the ground

Abstract

The concept of prefiguration has gained attention within environmental politics as a way to describe how everyday activism can enable transformation of unsustainable consumption practices, particularly around material necessities. Drawing on the case of Sweden’s flight-free movement, this article extends the research on prefigurative environmentalism to activism aimed at changing non-essential, yet culturally embedded, consumption practices. Through key informant interviews and document analysis, I show that prefigurative attempts to reduce flying go beyond finding more sustainable ways of travel, to experimenting with an alternative way of life where the need or desire for long-distance travel in itself is reconsidered. As such, the flight-free movement illustrates a form of prefigurative environmentalism focused on avoiding rather than merely replacing non-essential consumption. This analysis contributes to literature on everyday environmental activism by highlighting the importance of cultural change, rather than just material change, in attempts to prefigure low-carbon ways of life.