Climate Activism–Contemporary Swedish Feminist Comics

Abstract

This article argues that, while the creation and publishing of comics can be seen as activism per se, comics can also be utilised in more direct activist contexts. It relates comics, feminisms and masculinities to climate activism by analysing two prominent examples from Sweden: the comics album Jag vill inte göra slut. Serier för klimatet, [I don’t want to break up. Comics for the climate] (2016), and the comics by Karolina Bång in Maskulinitet, genus och klimaträttvisa [Masculinity, gender and climate justice] (2021), produced by the organisation Jordens Vänner [Friends of the Earth Sweden]. The comics are analysed visually and verbally with regard to the specific masculinities they discuss–the industrial modernist who denies the crisis, the ecomodernist, who suggests unproductive, short-term solutions, and the ecological masculinity, including care for nature and for each other, working for equity, eradicating negative gender norms, reducing unfair consumption and taking action for climate justice. The comics frequently use humour, irony, and satire–and are linked to climate activism.