Prefiguring sustainable futures through food activism: How young people deal with border tensions between the sustainable and unsustainable in everyday life

It is vital that young people get involved in the strivings for a sustainable future.Global sustainability problems are, however, complex and young people often experience low efficacy and ambivalence when trying to live in a sustainable manner. This project focuses on one way that young people can contribute to fighting these problems, food activism, both in more organized forms and in the private-sphere. The main theoretical lens is prefigurative politics/practice in which change-agents try to experimentally actualize their ideals about the future in the here and now, instead of challenging power structures. The project focuses on border tensions that arise when trying to create a more sustainable society within the limits of the present. Internal and interpersonal struggles emerging when utopian ideals and realities clash. One interview study with young people active in food organizations explores which border tensions the young experience and how they cope with these. One survey study investigates possible predictors, with a focus on ambivalent attitudes, of climate friendly food choices. One interview study with highly ambivalent young people (as identified by the survey) pinpoints positive and negative strategies to handle ambivalence seen from an engagement perspective. The project will give valuable knowledge that can be used in educational efforts.