Metamodern activism: Both/and oscillations and affective hybridity in translocal social movements

Abstract

Contemporary grassroots movements are commonly organised as Translocal Networks (TLNs) connecting local initiatives connected through national and global-hub nodes. Examples of these networks include the Transition Network (TN), the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) and Extinction Rebellion (XR). They combine hybrid repertoires of action across digital and physical spaces, enacting new forms of collective learning, affective mobilization and regenerative politics. Their decentralised, rhizomatic approaches are transforming political mobilization by introducing new participatory and dissemination strategies, innovative organisational practices, and a narrative of deep culture change, advocating systemic and regenerative change as a central tenet of their discourse. Understanding their innovative dynamics is a key challenge for contemporary social activism studies, yet research on their hybrid strategies and cultural logics remains limited. To address the challenges inherent in TLNs and hybrid social learning practices, this presentation applies the periodization approach of metamodernism, as defined by Vermeulen and van den Akker (2010, 2017). Moving beyond the polarities of modern idealism and postmodern irony, metamodernism foregrounds oscillation, sincerity, and complexity - qualities increasingly visible in contemporary activism’s tension between critique and construction, hope and despair, local pragmatism and global-idealistic and holistic scales. Drawing on affect theory (Bachmann-Medick & Tygstrup, 2015) and recent work on visual communication and hybrid activism (Crilley et al., 2020; Showden et al., 2023), the study explores how these movements perform metamodern sensibilities through both their discourses and visual cultures. Methodologically, the paper employs an exploratory visual grounded theory approach (Mey & Dietrich, 2016; Ridge, 2024), analysing textual and visual materials—newsletters, memes, images, and videos - as affective artefacts (Piredda, 2020) that shape participation and belonging. The metamodern analytical framework reveals how TN, GEN, and XR function as metamodern movements, cultivating sincerity amid irony, pragmatism amid utopianism, and inner transformation alongside systemic change. Their decentralised and rhizomatic structures resonate with relational and regenerative ontologies (Escobar et al., 2024; Esteves, 2022), framing activism as both political practice and cultural performance. By applying metamodern theory to the study of social movements, this research offers an innovative interdisciplinary bridge between cultural theory and social movement studies. It highlights how TLNs enact a “both/and” paradigm that reimagines the personal as political and the local/inner as planetary, advancing our understanding of how activism itself becomes an expression of metamodern culture and enriching theoretical discourse on culture, activism, and social movement innovation.