Prefigurative politics as applied to the climate crisis : A game theoretical assessment

Sammanfattning: In this paper, I make use of the game-theoretical concepts of cartel theory and coordination theory via salience and Schelling points in order to assess the viability of prefigurative politics when used by group actors to address the particular case of the climate crisis. I show that prefigurative politics as a strategy faces significant systematic disadvantages when used by social movements attempting to address climate change as compared to when it is used by social movements focused on other causes. These disadvantages are based on two factors: lack of motivation and a difficulty of coordination. In order to illustrate this point, I compare the situation for contemporary climate movements to a case example of the Montgomery bus boycott of 1957, showing how cartel theory worked in the favour of the civil rights movement, and how salience was crucial for the fast mobilisation of the African American community of Montgomery.