The impact of intersectionality on climate education via social media.

The impact of intersectionality on the role social media plays as a tool for climate education among young people

Intersectionality, an idea coined by Kimberle Crenshaw is a concept that examines how different social identities (gender, race, class, age, sexuality etc) intersect, as opposed to operating as separate categories, to “create unique experiences of oppression and privilege for an individual” (Crenshaw, 1991). When investigating the role of social media as a tool for climate education and activism among young people, it is essential to examine someone from a multitude of social identities and examine whether their access to information via social media and, consequently, their participation in climate education/activism, is impacted as a result of identity politics and intersectionality.

Access to Technology

To view and obtain information from social media, access to technology is essential, and a clear positive correlation can be seen between levels of income and technology use (Afzal et al., 2022). This has led to a growing concern among policymakers and scholars regarding a digital divide that has started to become evident between the volume of educational opportunities for high-income students vs low-income students as a result of unequal access to technology. (Katz, Moran and Ognyanova, 2017). This divide is often a result of two intersecting subordinate groups, race and class. Research has shown that people of colour within low-income communities are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change as a result of them having less education and training along with less access to institutional support (Amorim-Maia et al., 2022). This digital divide serves as an antecedent variable, creating a vicious cycle by hindering young people from low-income areas from accessing social media. Consequently, they miss out on the vast array of climate education and activism it offers, leading to their exclusion from decision-making on critical climate issues.

Representation and Voice

While social media can offer an opportunity for young people in marginalised groups to speak about their experiences and share their perspectives on climate change, the dominant narratives and perspectives are often centred around those from Western, white, middle-class backgrounds. This can have a negative impact on those from different racial, economic, or social backgrounds as their voices become marginalised and neglected in comparison to their more privileged counterparts (Kaijser and Kronsell, 2013).

This was made evident by Hajri and Daife (2024) in their study on the engagement of young people in Morocco in environmental issues. They found that while 100% of the young people they surveyed cared about the environment, with the majority (37%) using social media to follow environmental news, 72% had never seen the recent ‘#b7arblaplastic’ campaign by the King Mohammed VI Foundation for the Protection of the Environment circulating on their social media. This tells us that although the young people of Morocco care and keep up to date with environmental issues - they are Western issues from a Western standpoint; many young people couldn’t even name an environmental campaign and/or initiative in Morocco, despite there being numerous. This lack of diverse representation can result in young people from the global South having a distorted view of climate change, which fails to acknowledge its disproportionate impact on marginalised communities like theirs.

The role of social media in climate education and activism for young people is not without its challenges, particularly when taking into account the impact of intersectionality. Access to technology, representation, gendered barriers, and racial inequalities shape how young people engage with climate activism and education on these platforms. For social media to be a truly inclusive tool for climate justice, it must address these disproportions and combat digital exclusion by creating spaces that are more representative of diverse voices.

Reference List:

Afzal, A., Firdousi, S.F., Waqar, A. and Awais, M. (2022). The Influence of Internet Penetration on Poverty and Income Inequality. SAGE Open, 12(3), p.215824402211161. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221116104.

Amorim-Maia, A.T., Anguelovski, I., Chu, E. and Connolly, J. (2022). Intersectional climate justice: A conceptual pathway for bridging adaptation planning, transformative action, and social equity. Urban Climate, 41(41), p.101053. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2021.101053.

Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), pp.1241–1299.

Hajri, O. and Daife, Y. (2024). The role of social media in engaging young people in environmental issues. E3S web of conferences, 477, pp.00079–00079. doi:https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202447700079.

Kaijser, A. and Kronsell, A. (2013). Climate change through the lens of intersectionality. Environmental Politics, 23(3), pp.417–433. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2013.835203.

Katz, V.S., Moran, M.B. and Ognyanova, K. (2017). Contextualizing connectivity: how internet connection type and parental factors influence technology use among lower-income children. Information, Communication & Society, 22(3), pp.313–335. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2017.1379551.