Narratives of Justice in Protest Discourses

BERGISCHE UNIVERSITAT WUPPERTAL AND MAX KADE VISITING PROFESSOR OF GERMAN – ANTONIUS WEIXLER

Political protest slogans condense complex social and political claims into concise, memorable messages. Yet their effectiveness may depend on more than their rhetorical brevity: slogans can evoke short narratives that mobilize emotions, shape perceptions of injustice, and encourage collective action. This presentation will examine protest narratives–with a focus on but not limited to climate protests–and analyze how and why the issue of justice has become a central aspect to them. Key questions this presentation will address are for whom do protest slogans call for justice, what does “justice” even mean in this context, and what does it imply to what extent do such protest slogans generate “opening” or “closing” narratives, which in turn can lead to the inclusion or exclusion of groups and thus vary in their success in mobilizing or alienating people?